Egg producers cracking under great pressure of demand slump and huge production cost
Eggs producers found in Bangladesh have already been counting huge losses because of the decline found in retail prices of the protein due to the demand collapse amid the coronavirus-induced countrywide shutdown and higher creation cost.
Alternatively, the price of feed for chickens is high, adding another burden for the poultry farmers.
The poultry farms in several parts of the country, specifically in Savar and Manikganj, have already been spending around Tk 5.5 for creating an egg because the middle of March, which is greater than the wholesale level of Tk 4.1 to Tk 4.5 a bit.
Now, retailers buy each one egg at Tk 5 and sell at Tk 6.5-8.
Yesterday, eggs were advertising at Tk 26-28 per four pieces found in Dhaka, down 12.90 % from this past year, according to info from state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Only farmers are bearing the brunt of the falling prices mainly because the retail prices of egg have remained practically unchanged regardless of the virus pandemic and the lockdown, growers say.
Wholesalers state the falling egg prices in the growers' end are actually down to oversupply, the coronavirus pandemic and the thin occurrence of customers.
The cost of egg began to slide at the start of 2020 after new entrepreneurs entered the sector and many old entrepreneurs who had stopped farming because of losses in 2017-2018 returned, said Mahmudul Hasan, an egg wholesaler in Savar.
Firoz Mia, a good poultry farmer in Dhamrai, had 10,000 chickens in his farm and produced 9,000 eggs every day.
He was compelled to market 6,000 chickens at a poor price per month ago due to the fall in the egg price.
Now, he has 4,000 chickens and generates 3,800 eggs every day on the average, counting a lack of Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,200 each day.
"The falling egg rates have got hit me badly along with other farmers in my place," said Mia, adding that farmers who started farming after taking loans are in big trouble.
He's now praying for a good rebound in egg rates and subsidy from the government.
Humayon Kabir, a poultry farmer in Manikganj's Daulatpur, echoed the same.
After incurring huge losses Kabir had quit the trade only to return in January 2019 by offering a bit of land and borrowing from a loan company.
"All was going good until the coronavirus hit. I've again fallen in superb difficulty as the cost of eggs is falling whereas the cost of poultry feed and remedies is going up."
He's counting Tk 2,000 in loss every day. "If the situation persists for years, I will need to shut my farm again," he added.
Poultry farmers are actually facing losses as a result of coronavirus outbreak, said Saidur Rahman, upazila livestock officer in Dhamrai, adding that his business office collecting the list of farmers who are facing the losses.
