High price phase at the egg market over

profitability deteriorates

 The high price phase on the German egg market seems to be over for the time being. The supply, which has been tight for months, is approaching normal levels again. With demand barely increasing overall, prices are falling below the extraordinarily high level of the past year. The forthcoming Easter festival with its peak in demand is unlikely to change that. At the same time, laying hen farmers have to pay significantly higher feed prices than in the corresponding period of the previous year, so that profitability in egg production inevitably deteriorates. But it remains positive.

Stocks are growing again

A total of 51,08 million laying chicks hatched in Germany last year, 6,3 million or a good 14 percent more than in 2002. The export of laying chicks was only slightly above the previous year's level, and the export of young hens ready to lay eggs should not match the high increase in hatching either have compensated. Apparently, the high egg prices of the past year provided an incentive for German producers to replenish laying hen stocks. At the beginning of 2004, the calculated production potential in the laying sector clearly approached the previous year's line and will exceed it again for the first time in May, namely by almost two percent.

EU production is catching up

Since the end of 2003, laying hen stocks have also been replenished in the Netherlands. The production potential is steadily increasing in 2004 and is clearly above the previous year due to the recent slump due to avian influenza. However, the level of 2002 is still missed by around 20 percent. In the opinion of experts, this starting point should not be reached again. However, the remaining distance cannot yet be estimated.

Laying hen stocks and thus egg production throughout the European Union are also increasing. Since March 2004, the calculated production potential has exceeded the previous year's line; a lead of 6,6 percent is emerging for May. With 274 million potential laying hens, however, the population is expected to remain lower than in 2002.

Source: Bonn [ZmP]