January 25, 2013

India's egg prices slash to boost consumption

As a move to boost consumption, India's wholesale egg prices were trimmed by INR0.22 (US$0.004) after ruling flat at INR3.42 (US$0.06) a piece for almost a week.

Though sources at the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) attribute it to the lower consumption on account of Thai Poosam, the price cut is seen by the industry as a move to boost consumption.

Meanwhile, broiler prices are ruling unchanged at last week's INR78 (US$1.45) per kilogramme.

Buoyed by a strong demand, higher feed prices and winter continuing to be harsh, broiler prices touched INR78 (US$1.45) last week topping the previous record price of INR75 (US$1.40) per kilogramme scaled in 2011.

Soaring feed prices that account for one-third of cost of production is also attributed as a reason to the steady rise in prices - a 75-kilogramme bag of broiler feed cost INR2,702.50 (US$50) in 2012 against INR1,894 (US$35) the previous year.

NECC (Namakkal zone) has slashed the price of layer birds to INR39 (US$0.73). Namakkal and Palladam prices are the benchmarks for eggs and chicken respectively in the country.