July 30, 2012

India egg prices fixed at minimum of US$0.05

India's National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) has fixed a minimum guarantee of INR2.72 (US$0.05) for an egg to offset losses incurred by farmers during the lean season when piling stocks force them to cut costs.

An NECC spokesperson said that the decision was taken after studying the market conditions; and discussion with poultry farmers, other NECC zones and egg traders.

However, farmers are of the view that US$0.05 is not a profitable price as the existing production cost of an egg is around INR2.95 (US$0.05) due to soaring feed rates; and the final amount that farmers can get will be up to about INR2.42-2.52.

Meanwhile, egg prices have increased over last week, owing to a rise in consumption. This, despite the austere Shravan/ Aadi month, observed in major consuming markets such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The NECC, Namakkal Zone, has increased the price to INR2.80 (US$0.05) a piece and says prices may go up steadily from next week as Shravan comes to an end in a week's time.

Meanwhile, the broiler price slid by INR5 (US$0.09) per kilogramme to INR55 (US$0.99) in a week, owing to consumer resistance and less demand. The price of layer birds too decreased to INR35 (US$0.51) per kilogramme.