April 5, 2013
Europe's egg production up to 10.6 million tonnes in 2011
The overall egg production in Europe has grown from 9.5 million tonnes in 2000 to 10.6 million tonnes in 2011 which could be largely attributed to Russia and Ukraine as output from EU countries has increased negligibly.
World egg production expanded by 1.2 million tonnes or a little less than 2% in 2011, according to provisional data released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Increases were recorded throughout the regions but in particular the Americas, Asia and Europe. It should be noted however, that for many countries the data is unofficial and therefore, subject to revision.
Should this estimate prove correct and growth continues at that rate, then in 2013, world egg output (including hatching eggs which are estimated to be around 5% of the total) could exceed 67 million tonnes. However, due to the difficult financial environment that has persisted worldwide over the past couple of years, it is likely that in many countries growth has, at best, been minimal and for some, production will have contracted. Hence, the actual total for 2013 is more likely to be between 65.5 and 66.0 million tonnes.
Looking at the period 2000-11, while growth has occurred in all regions the slowest rate of expansion - 1% annually - was in Europe. While production in Europe as a whole is considered to have grown from 9.48 million tonnes to 10.64 million tonnes, the increase in the EU showed an annual average gain of less than 0.2%, underlining the point that Europe's expansion has been predominantly linked to expansion in the egg industries outside the EU. Indeed, EU table egg output is thought to have contracted by possibly 2% in 2012 although a recovery of approximately this amount is anticipated in 2013.
While the total number of layers in Europe has increased from around 700 million in 2000 to 787 million in 2011, the number of birds in the EU has hardly changed at around the 480-million mark. Although production in Europe expanded by almost 1.2 million tonnes during the review period, just two countries - Russia and Ukraine - accounted for some 956,000 tonnes or 83% of this increase. Output in Russia, the largest producer in Europe, rose by a moderate 1.7% annually, climbing from 1.9 million tonnes to about 2.3 million tonnes. In sharp contrast, production in Ukraine rocketed by more than 7% a year from a shade below 500,000 tonnes in 2000 to exceed one million tonnes in 2011. As a result, the EU's contribution to the Europe total has declined from around 70% in 2000 to 64% in 2011.
A report in September 2012 on the competitiveness of the EU egg industry by Peter van Horne of the Agricultural Research Institute at Wageningen in the Netherlands, revealed that, in 2010, the average production cost in Ukraine was some 79% of that for the EU. However, although production costs in the EU have since increased by more than 15% as the result of the implementation of European legislation on environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety, the high costs of transport and import tariffs have meant that Ukrainian eggs cannot compete on price within the EU. However, Ukraine is now in the list of authorised countries to export to the EU and this country might send eggs for breaking.
Although the banning of conventional cages in EU member states from January 1, 2012 caused market disruption, it was not as serious as some had predicted. While production declined in a number of countries, it is considered that the EU's level of self-sufficiency only slipped from 102% to around 100%. For 2013, a slight recovery is anticipated.
While the Russian Federation is easily the leading producer in Europe, accounting for more than one-fifth of the total in 2011, Ukraine is quickly cementing its position in the number two spot in the production league. Back in 2000, Ukraine's egg industry was the eighth largest in Europe with production equating to little more than a quarter of that for Russia. By 2011, Ukraine was not only firmly established as the second largest producer in the region but its output was equivalent to almost 50% of the Russian total.
Like in the other major egg-producing regions, only a relatively few countries account for the bulk of production. In Europe, the top nine countries - all producing more than 500,000 tonnes a year - had a combined output estimated at 8.5 million tonnes, or around 80% of the regional total in 2011. Not surprisingly, these nine countries also account for almost 80% of the European human population.
Since 2000, the egg industry in Russia has expanded by a little less than 2% a year as output has climbed to 2.3 million tonnes. While there may be some 160 million layers in the country, the commercial sector is considered to be around 140 million, all housed in cages, with the split between brown and white birds put at 50:50. Estimates of the number of eggs produced vary according to source but for 2011 it would appear to have been around 43 billion.
Most of production comes from the Volga Federal District with an estimated 10.3 billion eggs in 2010, followed by the Central Federal District with 8.2 billion and the Southern Federal District with 5.8 billion. According to Russia's agricultural analysis agency, Navigator, although there are some 450 large layer farms, possibly just 150 are operating at full capacity. That many farms are operating below capacity reflects the low levels of profitability as producers wrestle with rising production costs.
Accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is not expected to have a major impact on Russia's egg industry, as both imports and exports are small. Egg production in Ukraine more than doubled between 2000 and 2011, when the number of eggs produced, according to FAO, amounted to around 18.4 billion was some 9% higher than in the previous year. All the flocks are housed in cages. While it is estimated that the industry has the capacity to process some 4% of production, the actual quantity broken out is likely to be nearer 2%.
The remaining seven countries in the 'Top nine' are all members of the EU. As mentioned earlier, production in the Community has hardly increased over the past decade. During this period, the industries in the two leading producers, France and Germany, have contracted sharply, while the others in this group managed to expand output, particularly Spain and Poland.
Egg production in the UK is estimated to have contracted by about 4% in 2012. Over 50% of eggs are not produced intensively. In that year, some 9% fewer eggs were purchased by processors and consequently, the volume of egg products declined to around 91,000 tonnes compared with more than 100,000 tonnes in 2011. With the economic pressures principally due to the welfare regulations and feed costs that all EU egg producers are enduring, it seems unlikely that there will be a significant increase in output in the Community in the short-term.
