Retail egg prices fall for first time in months – Business News
US retail egg prices fell in April for the first time in months – although a dozen nonetheless prices approach more than it did a 12 months in the past.
The average price for a dozen Grade A eggs plunged 12.7% in April to $5.12, in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.
That’s the first month-to-month decline in egg prices since October 2024.
US retail egg prices fell in April for the first time in months, in accordance with authorities knowledge. AP
But shopper egg prices are nonetheless 79% greater than they have been final April, when a dozen offered for simply $2.86, as flocks throughout the nation proceed to get better from the worst chook flu outbreak in US historical past.
When the avian flu infects a chook, whether or not on a poultry farm or in a yard coop, it spreads at such a speedy tempo that producers are pressured to cull all the flock.
It’s killed more than 169 million birds since early 2022, pushing the retail price of eggs to a record-high of $6.23 in March.
At least 10 chook flu outbreaks have been reported over the previous month, together with two huge ones in South Dakota and Ohio, hitting flocks of 633,900 and 293,300, respectively, in accordance with the Centers for Disease and Control.
But outbreaks look like slowing over the previous few weeks, serving to egg prices to come back down barely.
The 90-day pause on most of President Trump’s tariffs, which took impact final month, has additionally doubtless aided the price cooldown, since a vital quantity of chook feed, cages and farm tools are imported from nations like Russia and Ukraine, in accordance with food science guide Bryan Quoc Le.
Retail egg prices are nonetheless 79% greater than they have been final April, in accordance with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. AP
The White House on Monday introduced it had reached a related deal with China to pause greater charges for 90 days.
Meanwhile, main egg producers are going through elevated scrutiny from the Department of Justice, which is investigating whether or not firms colluded to limit provide and keep prices artificially high, in accordance with the Wall Street Journal.
“There’s only so many egg manufacturers and there’s a bit of a pseudo-monopoly,” Le informed The Post.
“I certainly do think all these players are considering – if someone’s going to keep the prices up, we should probably all keep the prices up.”
