June 4, 2004

China's Egg Prices Seen To Move Higher in Late June
 

An eFeedLink Exclusive Report 

In recent weeks, egg prices have gone up by different margins across different regions of China, with the negative influence of the bird flu outbreak seen gradually eradicated.

An example is in Changchun city of Jilin province, eggs are sold this week at RMB 2.50- 2.60/500g; only in previous week, they were sold at RMB2.25/500g.

Recently, more merchants from the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and Hubei have bought eggs from Harbin in Heilongjiang province. Thousand tons of eggs are sold daily in Harbin. Price of eggs in this region has risen to RMB 2.60-2.70/500g, registering a remarkable increase of 50% over the same period last year. Prices in Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan and Beijing have risen significantly as well.

The recent rise in egg prices has been mainly influenced by the arrival of a Chinese traditional festival, Dragon Boat Festival, which falls in late June this year. Besides, the recent sharp falls in soymeal prices and the stabilized corn prices have to a certain extent re-ignited Chinese farmers' enthusiasm for poultry farming. The rising prices of chicken, eggs and meat is expected to strengthen China's animal production industry. This will in turn drive up the demand for feed ingredients in the near term.

Reportedly, China's egg export to Hong Kong has dropped by over 75% since June 1 due to the tightening egg supply in the domestic Chinese market. According to an official in Guangdong province, China's reduced egg supply to Hong Kong is expected to continue into the next 4 to 6 months.

Some egg merchants revealed that egg prices have increased by more than two times in recent days. Wholesale price of a carton of 360 eggs was sold at RMB140 in the previous few days. But now the price has risen to RMB180 per carton.

Currently, some grocery store owners are selling eggs at RMB0.80 per egg. They revealed that they will sell new stocks of eggs at no less than RMB1.00 each.