Egg prices continue to fall as demand remains weak

The egg price continues to fall, although the pace of the decline has eased somewhat. Across Northern Europe, prices are much lower. Consumers bought far fewer eggs in recent months because of high supermarket prices, while the processing industry has also remained somewhat cautious.The quotation for brown free-range eggs remains firmly under pressure. In the week of 21 July, the price fell to €12.21, a decrease of 3.1% compared with a week earlier. This means the quotation has now fallen for seventeen consecutive weeks and is 37.8% below the peak of €19.63 at the end of March.The correction has also been severe in the shorter term. Over the past four weeks, the quotation has lost 17.2% of its value, while the price is 18.4% lower than a year ago. The price trend therefore remains distinctly weak and points to a market in which supply exceeds demand and buyers are in little hurry to secure volumes. As long as that does not change, a convincing recovery in egg prices remains out of sight.In contrast to last year, this year is once again following the usual seasonal pattern, with egg consumption declining during the summer. Market participants reported that consumption fell during the holiday period and because of the warm weather, following the high consumer prices seen in recent months. As a result, there was more than enough supply to meet the needs of packing stations, traders and egg processors. Buyers therefore did not need to secure additional volumes to prevent shortages. According to the Landwirtschaftskammer Nordrhein-Westfalen, this lies at the heart of the price decline across Northern Europe. The German market observer reported that demand remained 'summerly cautious', while ample supply kept prices under pressure.Industrial price falls more sharplyThe development of the industrial price in particular supports the picture of cautious purchasing. The quotation for industrial free-range eggs fell by 8.6% in the first week, a steeper decline than that recorded for brown and white table eggs. Although a price quotation does not provide direct insight into the actual volumes purchased, the decline suggests that the egg processing industry was not providing sufficient demand at that time to absorb the surplus eggs. In the second week, the decline became smaller. The industrial price lost another 5.5 cents, falling to €1.465 per kilo, a decrease of 3.6%.