Farm egg again Tk 150 a dozen

Egg price again witnessed a hike by Tk 10-12 a dozen on Thursday, intensifying sufferings of the commoners further.
A dozen of brown farm eggs were retailed at Tk 142-150 on the day in different areas of the city, which were Tk 130-140 on Wednesday, according to groceries.
Price of the item showed a total of Tk 20-25 hike a dozen in the last one and a half weeks.
According to the kitchen market sources, prices of duck egg, Sonali egg and Pakistani chicken egg remained static at Tk 180-200 a dozen, and price of indigenous chicken egg at Tk 215-220 a dozen.
Meanwhile, beef and garlic also became pricier in the last seven days.
Beef price, after remaining static for the last two months, witnessed Tk 30-50 a kg hike, and was sold at Tk 680-700 a kg on Thursday. Imported garlic price increased to Tk 150-160 a kg from Tk 130-140 a kg.
Juel Rana, a grocer at West Dhanmondi, said wholesalers were charging Tk 1,140-1,150 for per hundred pieces of brown egg from Wednesday evening, whose price was Tk 1,020 four days back. The price was Tk 940-950 one and a half weeks ago.
Tahir Ahmed Siddiqi, president of Bangladesh Egg Producers Association, said the price of brown egg is almost static at Tk 9.5-9.6 per piece in the small- and medium-scale farms.
Farmers are now making a minimal profit of Tk 0.40-0.50 a piece amid rocketing trend of feed prices as well as decline in production for load-shedding.
The big companies and their dealers could say about the reasons of the recent egg price hike in the cities, he added.
Kazi Zahin Hasan, president of Bangladesh Breeders Association and director of Kazi Farms, told the FE that egg prices increase when its supply decreases or demand increases.
Its market prices are determined by supply and demand, not by any company or association.
Over the past year, the cost of feeds has increased, followed by higher prices of corn, soybean and other ingredients, not just in Bangladesh, but across the world, he noted.
As the cost of feeds went up, many farmers incurred loss by selling eggs.
"I suspect that many (of those) egg farmers have stopped production by culling their birds. That is the most likely reason for a reduction in egg supply, which is causing the price hike," he added.
Earlier, farm egg price hit an all-time high of Tk 160-180 a dozen at retail level on August 14-16 - mainly due to high production cost, load-shedding, and manipulation of an active racket in Dhaka's markets, according to a government agency.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) started a drive in the city's key wholesale markets and other egg hubs across the country in the third week of August that helped to cool down egg prices within a few days.
As per the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), Bangladesh produces 22-23 billion pieces of egg annually.

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