November 30, 2020

Malaysia's latest COVID-19 restrictions lead to drastic drop in food service egg demand

According to a report in China Press yesterday, Malaysia' conditional movement control order (CMCO) in a number of peninsula states resulted in a drastic drop in demand for chicken eggs by hotels, restaurants and eateries.

The fall is compounded by the earlier-than-usual closure of schools.

The slump in demand is also seeing farmers selling off some of their layers to avoid a glut.

Lee Yoon Yeau, deputy president of the Federation of Livestock Farmers Associations of Malaysia, says the farmers' move to cut egg production will not impact supply in the domestic market.

According to Lee, egg demand had been relatively low for the past few months mainly due to the earlier movement control order (MCO).

"Night markets are also good points of sale for eggs, but the crowds are yet to come back to these places," says Lee, who also heads the federation's layer unit.

He adds that the drop in the number of foreign workers has also affected egg demand.

While demand for eggs by households have increased, it is not enough to make up for the drop in commercial demand, Lee says.

Accordingly, farmers have taken steps to reduce production including retiring layer hens early.

He expects the situation to improve in the next two months when fishery output decreases in the rainy season and consumers switch to eating more eggs.