Kolkata: Egg price may cross 8 as farms cut production to recover losses

KOLKATA: Prices of eggs have been soaring high, threatening to breach all previous records, thanks to an ever-widening demand-supply gap, which is man-made or farm-made apparently to recover the losses incurred during March-end and April-beginning by lowering egg production. The retail price across the market touched Rs 7 a piece on Tuesday, which may breach an all-time high of Rs 8 a piece, if the production remains this low.
The city consumes one crore eggs a day.The seamless production of eggs has suffered a serious jolt with the wholesale price of a box of 210 eggs rising to around Rs 1,250-1,270. “The retailers have reduced their margin of profits, but failing to satisfy the customers, who are unhappy with the spike in prices of the cheapest source of animal protein,” said N C Pradhan, an egg retailer at Gariahat Market.
“The poultry farms lost their hands down during March-end and April-beginning, when the egg consumption had its worst-ever slump as the period coincided with different religious events. This led to a drop in egg prices to as low as Rs 3.5 a piece. The poultry farms bled profusely and many had to dump eggs in ditches as even the transportation cost to markets could not be recovered. The current drop in production was decided to recover the loss,” said Raman Saha, member, Calcutta Egg Association, one of the oldest associations of egg merchants in the city. The least production cost of an egg is around Rs 4.5 a piece. Since it is a perishable item and the market often fluctuates, egg prices often go below the threshold limit. Such a cost recovery mechanism was thus required to strike a balance, said Saha.
But consumers are at the receiving end. “We heavily depend on eggs. Each of my family members has an average of two eggs a day. I am feeling the pinch,” said Atanu Ghosh, a lawyer. “In just one month, the calculations have gone haywire. Even a fortnight ago, I bought a box for Rs 900, which now appears incredible. If the current supply gaps lasts a few days more, egg prices will certainly breach Rs 8 a piece,” said Chittaranjan Mondal, a retailer at Lake Market.