Indian poultry exporters are witnessing a surge in demand for eggs from West Asia after a disruption in the supply chain caused by the earthquake in Turkey last month. Exporters said shipments of eggs, which mainly happen from the key producing region of Namakkal, are expected to rise by 10 per cent this year.

Exports of poultry products have more than doubled in value during the April-January period of the current fiscal, largely on account of increased demand witnessed in recent months from Qatar, which organised the FIFA World Cup event and also from Malaysia, which recently opened its market for Indian eggs.

“The recent earthquake in Turkey has disturbed the supply chain in West Asia, which is opening up the market for Indian egg exports. From February-end we have started getting queries and it is t ongoing,” said Valsan Parameswaran, Secretary, All India Poultry Exporters Association.

Exports are likely to rise by 10 per cent due to the development in Turkey, Parameswaran said. He estimated last year’s shipments at around 100 crore eggs. During the FIFA World Cup, egg exports to Qatar were estimated at about 1.5 crore. Also, about 50 lakh eggs have recently been shipped to Malaysia, he said.

Compartmentalised farms

Sri Lanka and Dubai, which insist on importing eggs from compartmentalised poultry farms, have also opened up for Indian exports. About 95-98 per cent of India’s egg exports take place from Namakkal, the key producing region in the country, Parameswaran said. The daily production of eggs in and around Namakkal is estimated to be 5-6 crore - the bulk of which is supplied to Kerala and northern parts of the country.

Oman leads

Oman is the largest buyer of Indian table eggs, followed by Maldives, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Russia is the largest buyer for egg powder, followed by Indonesia and Japan.

Yuvaraju VS of Yuvaraju Agro Impex in Chennai said due to the impact of the earthquake in Turkey and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, a lot of orders for eggs are coming to India. Over the past year, his shipments are up by about four times than normal and the demand will exist till the situation normalises in these countries.

As per the latest data from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), exports of poultry products have increased by 91 per cent to $107 million during April-January 2022-23 compared with $56 million a year ago.

APEDA chairman M Angamuthu said initiatives on compartmentalisation of poultry farms have been undertaken by a few farms in India in order to get better market access. APEDA is providing financial assistance to poultry exporters for the procurement of reefer containers to maintain the cold chain from production facility to port.

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