April 12, 2011

Egg imports to Armenia more profitable

Importing eggs into Armenia has proved to be thrice more profitable than local egg production, said Gegham Janvelyan, Director General of Arzni Pedigree PBS OJSC (Arzni Pedigree Poultry).

Fellow egg producer Lusakert Poultry Farm CJSC now produces 350 boxes of eggs daily instead of the previous 700 boxes, due to expensive production and maintenance costs said Janvelyan.

He said that Lusakert Poultry Farm imports eggs from Ukraine where the cost of one egg was equivalent to AMD19 (US$0.05) as of January. In such a case, it remains unclear why the retail price of these imported eggs is priced at AMD55 (US$0.15) like the local products, allowing Lusakert Poultry Farm to make a profit three times the cost price, said Janvelyan.

"At present the cost value of Ukrainian eggs in Armenia is some AMD38 (US$0.10) and the sale cost is AMD44 (US$0.12)," Janvelyan said.

The State Revenue Committee of ArmInfo reported three million of egg imports worth US$307,000 in 2010.