After Taiwan, China's egg prices soared, they have stabilized again. With supply and demand balanced, how much is one jin now?
In February this year, a nationwide egg shortage crisis broke out, and the Council of Agriculture at one point imported eggs from abroad to make up for domestic demand. At that time, the farm-gate price of eggs reached as high as 36.5 yuan per Taiwan jin, but starting in March, egg prices gradually stabilized. On April 15, the farm-gate price of eggs came to 31.
In February this year, a nationwide egg shortage crisis broke out, and the Council of Agriculture at one point imported eggs from abroad to make up for domestic demand. At that time, the farm-gate price of eggs reached as high as 36.5 yuan per Taiwan jin, but starting in March, egg prices gradually stabilized. On April 15, the farm-gate price of eggs came to 31.5 yuan per Taiwan jin. Li Yiqian, chief of the Poultry Production Section of the Council of Agriculture's Department of Animal Industry, said that supply and demand in the egg market have now reached a stable state, and egg prices remain unchanged.
Factors such as flooding affected laying performance, causing egg prices to rise
⟦NL> Affected by the August 23 flooding last year, about 1.3 million laying hens across Taiwan, China were drowned, and egg farmers did not dare to use fipronil indiscriminately to control chicken lice, which reduced egg production. In addition, the large day-night temperature difference in central and southern Taiwan, China affected the laying performance of hens in traditional chicken houses, and egg processing operators went to the fresh egg market to purchase eggs to meet liquid egg demand. These various factors drove egg prices higher and higher, and on February 20 the farm-gate price of eggs even hit a 20-year high, reaching as high as 36.5 yuan per Taiwan jin.
Li Yiqian said that in February, because it coincided with the Chinese New Year period, egg prices peaked at 36.5 yuan per Taiwan jin. Under an imbalance in market supply and demand, the Central Livestock Production Association coordinated with egg processing operators to release some eggs to supplement what the market needed, while also importing 9 containers each from Japan and the United States, about 4.6 million eggs. The Council of Agriculture then used an "eggs-for-eggs" method to supply these imported eggs to processing operators. Li Yiqian said that this batch of eggs had already been used up by mid-March, and considering that supply and demand in the egg market are now stable, there is no need to stabilize egg prices through imported eggs again.
Wang Rongsheng, chief of the Laying Hen Section of the Republic of China Poultry Association, said that during the off-season for egg product demand, some egg farmers, in order to adjust production, carry out forced molting on laying hens that have already been laying for 8 or 9 months. By adjusting their diet, they prompt the hens to replace their feathers. Molting can extend the laying period of hens, by as much as 8 months. Wang Rongsheng added that the forced molting operation usually takes about 30 to 45 days. Wang Rongsheng said that laying hens begin to lay eggs when raised to 120 days, and by 140 days of age egg production tends to stabilize. If egg farmers begin raising additional laying hens around January, they can begin to obtain a stable egg supply in March or April, achieving a balance between supply and demand and allowing egg prices to stabilize.
