MLBA16: August / September 2010

 

 

 

 

One of Thailand's major headaches for years had been the very low price of eggs. It reached crisis proportion last year when mixed-size eggs plunged to as low as THB1.90 (US$.059) a piece from THB2.40 (US$0.74) just months earlier. With production cost averaging at THB2.10 (US$0.65) each, 20 satang (cents) above selling price, it drove thousands of Thai layer farmers to near bankruptcy.

 

The root of the recurrent problem was classic oversupply. Thailand had been producing more eggs than it could handle. By end of last year, daily production had climbed to 27-28 million eggs while consumption remains at 25-26 million a day – a surplus of two million eggs a day.

 

The situation would worsen towards the end of the year. Every October, 30% of the country's population shuns all kinds of meat, including egg, as they celebrate the ten-day vegetarian festival. By the end of the celebration, farmers would have 70-80 million eggs in their store rooms, a situation that triggers the seasonal year-end price slump.