The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on the 19th it plans to supply about 21.12 million fresh eggs from the United States and Thailand to the market by July to stabilize prices.
As highly pathogenic avian influenza (HAPI) occurred last year and laying hens were culled, egg production fell and prices have continued to rise.
The ministry plans to import at least 4.48 million eggs each week in sequence, supply them first to major large retailers such as E-MART and Lotte Mart, and also supply to small business owners such as neighborhood bakeries and supermarkets through small and midsize distributors. It also plans to extend the period for applying the quota tariff to processed egg products (June→December) and expand the applicable volume (4,000 tons→8,000 tons).
The ministry expects egg production to increase after July as the number of laying hens recovers, but it believes it will take some time for the recovery in production to translate into actual market supply and price stabilization. To stabilize consumer prices, it is also supporting measures in parallel, including expanding government discount programs and lowering delivery prices to NongHyup. It said it is also reviewing a plan to further expand imports of fresh eggs to respond to supply instability caused by summer heat waves.
As of June, daily domestic egg production was 47.05 million, up 1.2% from an average year but down 3.3% from a year earlier. However, chick placements from January to May increased 12.8% from a year earlier, bringing the number of laying hens in June to 78.79 million, up 4.6% from an average year and 0.4% from a year earlier, and as the chicks grow, daily egg production in July is projected to expand to 49 million, returning to last year's level.
Meanwhile, since January this year through the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), the ministry has imported and supplied 10.11 million fresh eggs, including 6.74 million from the United States and 3.37 million from Thailand.