Amid runaway food inflation (it rose 16.6% year-on-year) and the Bank of Spain’s warnings that the rises will continue (it predicts increases of 12.2% for the whole year), the price of eggs has grown even above these levels. Egg prices in the markets of origin are soaring by over 30% in the last year in the main markets due to the high prices of feed and energy and the increase in demand for export.
The dozen of category L is trading this week at the Llotja de l’Ebre (Zaragossa) at 2.81 euros. Its president, Fernando Calvo, assures that during 2022 “these increases in fixed costs have had to be transferred to the product at origin, and although they have been gradual increases, they have been constant throughout 2022”. The Llotja de Bellpuig shares the same argument.
The egg market started the year quietly, with demand and supply more or less in balance; during the first weeks the quotations have not registered changes, with a tight market. It was from the middle of February when the situation became tense.
According to the Llotja de l’Ebre, the short supply of eggs in several European countries, with lower productions than other years, and an escalation of prices in their respective markets, have led to an increase in orders to export to countries such as France and Germany “Spain has always been a country with surplus production and we have been able to export, but right now orders for Europe have increased and with prices higher than the national operation, which have caused an imbalance between the supply-demand relationship in the sector, with a balance favorable to demand”, details from the Llotja.
Josep Golanó, producer from Sant Guim de Freixenet, assures that for many years producers have been selling very cheaply, which has led to the closure of some farms, and that, added to the cases of bird flu in Europe, has slowed down exports of France and Poland.
Ana Toda, director of the Catalan Poultry Federation, assures that the egg sector has had increases in costs that are valued at 45% in one year, while worldwide there are mismatches in the supply for the affectation of the influenza disease. “At the national level, it hasn’t affected us – he explains – but in some countries, some areas have been left without layers”. The director adds that “the price of eggs has risen a lot, that’s clear, maybe it’s one of the products that has risen the most, but it’s important to know that the producer really hasn’t been able to cover all the increase that he’s had in costs”, concludes the director.
The Bonarea chain assures that it has detected “exaggerated” purchases in its stores by non-regular customers, a situation that the company attributes to the lack of this product, and that its eggs “are the most competitive on the market”. The company points out that these purchases, sometimes of 30 dozen, have caused damage to regular customers. With this argument, he decided to limit the purchase in stores to no more than ten dozen per customer to ensure a constant supply.
