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Recently, egg prices are rising again.
As highly pathogenic avian influenza spreads rapidly, companies are starting to secure stock, but there are concerns that an egg crisis like last year may occur.
Reporter Lee Hye-mi reports.
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This is the egg section of a large mart.
The cheapest one is about 7,000 won for a plate of 30.
Everything else is over 8,000 won.
A housewife with three children hesitates and picks up the cheapest egg.
[Ryu Jeong-seon/Consumer: I think I'm worried about whether to put it in the shopping cart or not.
I can't even look at anything else.]
The wholesale price, which was 5,400 won a month ago, has risen by more than 400 won and is heading toward 6,000 won.
This is because feed prices continue to rise due to the Russia-Ukraine war, and the highly pathogenic avian influenza AI, which has recently spread, has affected.
In particular, this year, highly pathogenic AI occurred 22 days earlier than last year, and infections continued in areas where AI did not occur in the past, widening the range.
Farms in AI outbreak areas are in an emergency.
[Laying hen farm officials: It is difficult to take out manure.
The farm stops, and if the manure is not taken out, the belt will not turn in cage (concentrated breeding) farms.]
There is no major problem with the egg supply and demand itself yet, but if farm operations stop due to the spread of AI, egg prices could rise even more than now.
Concerned about soaring prices, the government set out to come up with countermeasures.
[Park Jeong-hoon/Director of Defense Policy, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs: We are cracking down on illegal gains such as egg hoarding by distributors...
.]
The government announced that if the supply and demand situation worsens, it will review a plan to directly import and supply fresh eggs like last year.