Thailand offloading eggs to support prices

 

 

Thailand's egg traders will quickly export 20 million eggs in an effort to stop local prices from declining further.

 

Shipments to Hong Kong and Africa will be completed by the end of October, and are expected to stop egg prices from dropping lower than THB2.1 each, the lowest level for several months, said Mongkol Pipatsattayanuwong, president of the Association of Hen-Egg Farmers, Traders and Exporters.

 

Domestic egg prices have been dropping from an average of THB2.6 to THB2.7 last month, due to shrinking demand during the vegetarian festival and school holidays, he said.

 

Mongkol said the association had used THB4 million from the newly established egg fund to run the programme. The fund pays THB0.2 per egg to farmers, allowing them to earn THB2.1 per egg sold for export.

 

The earnings are still lower than the average production cost of THB2.4, so a large market surplus is a big concern.

 

The programme aims to absorb the surplus from the market, especially over the rest of October, or egg prices may fall further, he said.

 

Figures from the Livestock Development Department showed Thailand's egg consumption per capita per year is at a low level compared to other regional countries. Therefore the department has mapped out plans to increase local egg consumption by 2012. 

 

Thailand exports about 400 million eggs per year, mainly to Hong Kong. African countries have emerged as new markets in recent years, with sales exceeding 70 million eggs last year.

 

To prevent prices from falling on a sustainable basis, Mongkol suggested the department register independent egg farmers to manage supply more efficiently. There are about 110 to 120 independent farms that supply up to 30 percent of egg production, with the balance from 300 registered farms.

 

The Office of Agricultural Economics estimates egg production this year at 9.9 billion, up 5.07 per cent from 2008 due to better stock and farm management.