Egg prices start to drop after bird flu shortage – Business News
Shoppers could lastly really feel some aid within the egg aisle after waning demand brought on steep price declines over the previous week, in accordance to new information.
Egg prices jumped 10.4% in February as a rampant bird flu outbreak continued to trigger widespread shortages, the Bureau of Labor Statistics mentioned on Wednesday.
But prices for big white eggs dropped $1.30 to $6.85 a dozen as of March 7 – down 16% from a staggering $8.15 price tag two weeks prior, the Department of Agriculture mentioned in a report.
Shoppers could lastly really feel some aid within the egg aisle after waning demand brought on steep price declines over the previous week, in accordance to new information. REUTERS
“With these sharp increases in prices in the last two years basically, at some point, the average consumer is starting to realize it’s just not affordable for them, so there’s just sort of a drop in demand,” food science marketing consultant Bryan Quoc Le instructed The Post.
“How can people be paying $8 to $16 for a carton of eggs?” he added. “It’s just not feasible, especially nowadays…as people are tightening up their wallets.”
Wholesale egg prices plunged for the primary time in months as withering demand and slowing outbreaks gave some producers a probability to get better, in accordance to the USDA and Trading Economics.
The avian flu outbreaks grew more localized over the previous few weeks, giving the New York market a break whereas persevering with to hamper California and the Midwest, the USDA mentioned.
More than 166,000 birds have been impacted by the outbreak – making it the deadliest in US historical past – since January 2022, leaving consumers to deal with empty cabinets on the grocery store and shockingly high prices, in accordance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And the Department of Justice has launched an investigation into whether or not producers have illegally conspired to additional prohibit provide in a price gouging scheme, in accordance to The Wall Street Journal.
While it could have been a long time coming, the latest price adjustment – sending prices as low as $5.18 on Wednesday, in accordance to Trading Economics – seemingly isn’t right here to keep.
The bird flu outbreak has been the deadliest in US historical past, in accordance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Getty Images
Demand will seemingly spike again in April and inflate prices as households stock up for Easter egg hunts – maybe pushing consumers to scoop up plastic eggs as a substitute this 12 months, Le instructed The Post.
And a number of different probably damaging elements loom overhead for the nation’s egg industry, he added.
Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index confirmed inflation easing barely in February, however economists have warned that President Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico – that are on a 30-day pause – and his 20% levy on China may reheat prices.
Tariffs are additionally threatening to ship the price up for provides, like corn and soybeans – usually utilized in chicken feed.
Several different probably damaging elements loom overhead for the nation’s egg industry, threatening to keep prices elevated. Juan Gonzalez/NY Post
The US largely produces its own corn at home – within the Midwestern area generally known as the “Corn Belt” – so it’s avoiding import tariffs for now.
But the nation’s corn farmers are main exporters, primarily to Mexico, which has threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on the nation.
Fertilizer prices are additionally accountable for high egg prices, and are unlikely to ease anytime quickly since they’re wrapped up in one other geopolitical rigidity – the Russia-Ukraine battle, Le mentioned.
While the US produces some of its own fertilizer, it has been a vital importer of Russian minerals used for fertilizer, in accordance to the USDA.
The bird flu may proceed to come back in waves and keep egg prices high. JOHN G MABANGLO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Sanctions and commerce limits positioned on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine dampened commerce, despatched fertilizer prices larger and, in flip, made maintaining chickens more pricey.
But the clearest risk is that the bird flu may proceed to come back in waves, and there’s not an simple resolution at hand, Le mentioned.
Even if the CDC begins to advocate a shot for birds, animal vaccines will not be essentially cost-effective, in accordance to Le.
“You have to hire a veterinarian, have regulatory oversight and there’s costs associated with that, you have to have the labor – someone’s gotta go and inject all these chickens,” Le instructed The Post.
He mentioned producers will seemingly do a price evaluation to decide whether or not it is smart to keep all their chickens alive, and if their eggs will probably be enough to counter the extra prices.
