Shell Egg Production Higher, Hatching Eggs Down
10/16/2009 10:32AM
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In August, table egg production was 543 million dozen, up 1.2 percent from the previous year. The gain in production was due to higher productivity, as the number of birds in the shell egg flock was 277 million, down slightly from a year earlier. Over the first 8 months of 2009, table egg production totaled 4.3 billion dozen, which is up almost 1 percent from the same period in 2008. This trend of higher production is expected to continue through the remainder of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. The number of eggs from egg-type birds laid for hatching has been strongly higher than the previous year. Over the first 8 months of 2009, production of egg-type hatching eggs has totaled 572 million dozen, 7.5 percent higher than during the same period in 2008.
In August, wholesale prices for a dozen large eggs in the New York market averaged $0.97, down 19 percent from a year earlier. In September, weekly prices were relatively steady at about the same level as in August. The average price for third-quarter 2009 was approximately $0.95 per dozen, down 17 percent from third quarter 2008. Prices in fourth-quarter 2009 are expected to increase only slightly and average $0.96 to $1.00 per dozen as the normal seasonal strengthening in egg prices is dampened by the unsettled economic conditions.
Total egg exports during the first half of 2009 were down somewhat from the previous year, but shipments are expected to be higher in third-quarter and fourth quarter 2009 than in 2008. Shipments in August were 22 million dozen, up slightly from the previous month and about 30 percent higher than in August 2008. The growth in shipments relative to the previous year is likely due to lower wholesale egg prices in July and August 2009, 13 to 18 percent lower than the previous year. Most of the gains in exports in August have been concentrated in three of the four largest markets (Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong). These gains more than offset a large (down 45 percent) decline in shipments to Japan.