India egg exports, demand up in February

After a short drop, India's egg exports and demand are on the rise for February, as are profits as prices increase on good domestic offtake coupled with a cut in output, according to P Selvaraj, chairman of the National Egg Coordination Committee. The country is shipping considerable containers of eggs to Afghanistan, said Selvaraj, but domestic demand is seeing a steady rise, as well. On February 1, egg prices were at Rs 2.47 (US$0.05) per piece, and on February 22 they were at Rs 2.80 (US$0.06). The Committee has decided to raise the price further, to Rs 2.84 per piece. “Now that the austere seasons are over, the demand for poultry products has risen," said Selvaraj. "Average daily production of eggs fell by [1.5 million] a day. Namakkal produced around [30.7 million] eggs in January this year.” The price of layer birds is also witnessing a rise, with the National Egg Coordination Committee increasing the rate by Rs 2 (US$0.04)/kg to Rs 35 (US$0.71), while the Broiler Coordination Committee's rates for cull birds is down by Rs 9 (US$0.09)/kg to Rs 46 (US$0.94).