Supply and demand are tight, egg prices are not weak in off-season
Monitoring data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shows that since March, the national egg market price, wholesale price, and retail price have risen for five consecutive weeks.
Up to now, the national egg market price, wholesale price and retail price have increased by more than 6%, 10% and 5% respectively.
Spring is the traditional off-season for egg consumption. Why do egg prices rise against the trend at this time?
Zhu Ning, an associate researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that in previous years, the price of eggs stopped falling and started to rise again in April. This year, the price of eggs has risen since March, which is earlier than in previous years. The main reason is that the egg market The supply and demand pattern is tight.
In March, with the opening of colleges and universities, the demand for fresh eggs gradually recovered, and the demand for egg processing increased slightly when food companies resumed work and production.
The purchase of eggs by consumers' households has slowly recovered, and the terminal sales link has improved, which has effectively driven the price of eggs to bottom out.
In addition, the prices of feeds such as soybean meal and corn continued to rise, which also supported the early rise in egg prices.
Monitoring data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shows that in the first quarter of this year, the national egg market price and wholesale price were at the highest level in the same period in the past ten years, and the retail price was at the second highest level. Among them, the national egg market price, wholesale price and retail price in January were all in the past ten years. highest in the same period.
The main reason is that the supply capacity of eggs is low.
Recently, the stock of laying hens across the country has fluctuated and declined, and it has only rebounded slightly in the past two months. Although the supply of eggs has recovered, it is still at a relatively low period, which provides strong support for the relatively high price of eggs.
However, although the number of laying hens in the country is relatively low, it is still higher than the average level of the same period in the past four years, which can ensure the effective supply of eggs.
Zhu Ning said that according to the laws of previous years, the price of eggs began to rise from the second quarter and continued until the end of the third quarter. It is expected that the price of eggs this year will continue to fluctuate in previous years, with fluctuations rising to September.
The main reason is that the number of laying hens in the country has maintained a slight increase, but the increase is limited, and after the summer, the egg production rate of laying hens has declined slightly due to the influence of high temperature weather, and the egg market supply has been stable and slightly increased.
With the domestic new crown pneumonia epidemic under control, the demand for eggs in schools and the catering industry continues to recover, and egg consumption will enter the peak season in the third quarter.
In general, due to the staged tightness of egg supply and demand, egg prices will fluctuate up to the end of the third quarter, but if pork prices continue to run low, the increase in egg prices will be compressed.
(Economic Daily reporter Huang Junyi)