Price gap between Dutch and German eggs decreases

The egg market is still plagued by shortages. However, there is a slight price drop in the Netherlands. In Germany, the price, however, increased significantly, thus the difference between the markets is considerably decreasing. The Dutch egg price has decreased slightly this week. The price of brown eggs size M dropped by 5 cents from €19.10 to €19.05 per 100 eggs. Historically, this is somewhat late: we often see at this stage that the price begins to rise again heading into spring. Nevertheless, the decrease is not entirely atypical. Especially in years where there is clearly a winter or January drop, it is not unusual for prices to still decline in week 5. What makes this year's pattern quite atypical, however, is that the downward pressure is very limited. The previous two weeks, the prices were still stable. Egg prices are very highWhat makes this year so special is that the prices are very high. Compared to a year ago, the Dutch egg price for size M is 36% higher. What makes this enormous increase even more impressive is that the price was already at a record high for that time of year. This shows that there is not so much price pressure, but rather that the level is simply too high to show an early recovery towards Easter. An important reason why the Dutch price did not hold is the significant difference with the German price. This pressing factor, however, is decreasing. The price for free-range eggs size M rose last week by as much as 30 cents, to €18.80 per 100 eggs. Thus, the difference decreased from 60 cents to 30 cents per 100 eggs. This increase is the result of the persistently high demand for eggs. Processors in the country indicate that the demand at this time of year has never been so strong. The consequence of this is that packing stations continue to move their eggs very quickly. In practice, very little stock is still being built up and trading on the free market is minimal. This applies not only to free-range eggs but to eggs in all segments, including organic eggs and outdoor access eggs.