Nghe An: Poultry egg prices down, slow consumption

The current price of chicken eggs is at 1,800 - 2,000 VND/egg, 500 - 700 VND/egg lower than before Tet. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Raising 15,000 laying hens with closed technology, on average each day, Mr. Tran Xuan Son's farm in Nghia Hung commune (Nghia Dan) supplies the market with 14,000-15,000 eggs. If before Tet, the price of eggs was up to 2,500 VND/egg, the farm's egg quantity could not meet the demand of customers, now the price of eggs has dropped to 2,000 VND/egg, 15,000 eggs must be sold within 3-5 days.

Mr. Son said: “According to the market cycle, after Tet, egg prices usually stagnate but only last until the end of the 15th day of the first lunar month. After that, when factories, schools, and collective kitchens resume operations, egg prices increase again. But until now, when it is already February (lunar calendar), the market has not improved yet.”

In addition to 20 million VND for food each day, Mr. Son (Nghia Hung, Nghia Dan) also has to pay for labor and farm operating costs. Photo: Thanh Phuc

15,000 laying hens cost 20 million VND per day for food, plus the cost of 800,000 VND for 4 workers and the electricity cost for the whole chicken farm is also about 400,000-500,000 VND, so with the current egg prices, the farm not only does not make a profit but also loses millions of VND per day.

Raising on a smaller scale, only 2,500 laying hens, Mr. Nguyen Van Sinh (Yen Hop, Quy Hop) does not have to hire workers, mainly family workers take care of the chickens. Each day, the number of eggs he collects is about 2,000 eggs, with the current selling price of 2,000-2,200 VND/egg (depending on wholesale and retail prices), he does not make a profit.

Raising livestock on a farm scale but not having to hire workers, so egg prices are low, but Mr. Nguyen Van Sinh (Yen Hop, Quy Hop) does not suffer a loss. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Sinh said: “That is not counting the labor of 4 people in the family, so there is no loss. If we have to hire workers, we will lose 800,000-1,000,000 VND per day. Egg prices are low but consumption is also reduced, the amount of eggs sold is much slower than before.”

According to analysis, the reason for the decrease in egg prices is because market demand is slowing down during this period while egg supply is abundant, because this is the time when farms are producing high density flocks, the weather is warm so the hens lay better than other times of the year.

Not only have egg prices dropped, but egg consumption has also slowed down. Photo: Thanh Phuc

On the other hand, due to the erratic hot and cold weather, eggs are difficult to preserve, so dealers do not dare to import large quantities to stock up. Therefore, they have to sell out this batch before taking another batch.

To avoid losses during the period of low egg prices, most farms are planning to reduce their flocks. For example, Mr. Tran Xuan Son's farm is planning to cull 4,000 chickens; Mr. Sinh's farm is cutting 1,000 chickens... "If egg prices had not dropped, these chickens would have been exploited for another 1-2 months. But now, egg prices are low and the cost of chickens is high, so I decided to cull them and when egg prices increase, I will restock," said Mr. Son.

Mr. Nguyen Van Sinh plans to cull 1,000 laying hens to reduce costs at the present stage. Photo: Thanh Phuc