Mexico egg prices remain high after avian influenza outbreak

Mexico is considered to have the greatest per-capita consumption of eggs in the world, and the high level of egg consumption coupled with the production decrease and highly pathogenic avian influenza-related market speculation have pushed egg prices higher for all major population centers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Mexico's poultry and egg industry organization, UNA, reported that industry members attempted to maintain supplies and dampen the price spike by reducing or eliminating egg and egg product exports while also extending egg-layer production cycles to between 125 to 128 weeks. Still, prices more than doubled during the outbreak and are still hovering more than $0.50 per kilogram greater than the same period in 2011, whereas U.S. egg prices in dollars per dozen are virtually unchanged from 2011 numbers. In response, Mexico opened its market more broadly to imported eggs.
Most egg imports as a result of the avian influenza outbreak did not get into full swing until September. U.S. shell egg exports to Mexico totaled 1.998 million dozen for January–August; in September alone the U.S. exported 7.89 million dozen eggs.
Mexican authorities and industry members indicate that egg prices have stabilized, albeit at levels greater than before the outbreak. The pre- and post-incident prices are considerably different in Mexico, while prices in the U.S. are similar to 2011, according to the USDA. In addition to disrupting the general supply and demand of Mexico’s egg market, escalating prices pushed Mexico’s Foreign Trade Commission, COCEX, to refrain from imposing anti-dumping duties on imported U.S.-origin chicken leg quarters. U.S. chicken leg quarters remain a low-cost protein source for many Mexican consumers and are much cheaper than their Mexican equivalents, as feed grain input costs and consumption preferences between the countries differ significantly.