What egg shortage? Producers see glut

MANILA, Philippines — Egg producers allayed fears of a possible shortage of egg supply, saying oversupply is even expected as production this year will exceed the total output in 2024.

In a chance interview at the weekend in Quezon City, Philippine Egg Board Association president Francis Uyehara said for the first quarter of 2025 alone, they see a 15 percent increase in egg production.

“We don’t have a shortage when it comes to table eggs in April or May. We are even expecting an oversupply this year as our production this year is projected to exceed the production last year,” Uyehara said.

He added that egg producers will schedule a meeting with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to clarify the issue.

“We don’t know who gave that information to the Secretary as we have regular meetings with him with the group of Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. We gave regular consultation on this issue. We don’t know the source of the information as we are also surprised about the news (on the possible egg shortage),” Uyehara said.

He warned that traders may take advantage of the situation and would implement unnecessary increases in the retail price of eggs.

Uyehara said that the farmgate price of medium sized eggs remains low between P5.60 and P6.40 per piece, adding that the retail price of eggs should not exceed P8 per piece.

Based on monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Metro Manila markets, the retail price of medium sized eggs ranged between P7.30 and P9 per piece.

“The farmers suffered losses last summer in 2024. As a result, they decreased their production. The effect was experienced in June, July, August, September. When the retail price of eggs started to go up last year, our egg producers started to repopulate with the expected increase in demand during the holidays,” Uyehara added.

According to Uyehara, starting November 2024, the retail price of eggs has stabilized as there was already sufficient supply.

“During the months of November and December last year, there was ample supply of table eggs,” he said.

Uyehara noted that starting January this year, there has been an oversupply of eggs as the consumption abruptly decreased after the Christmas season.

He said that the farmgate price of eggs has decreased by P1 per piece after the demand in December 2024.

At the same time, Uyehara said that the bird flu being experienced in Europe and United States where the parent stocks layers are sourced will not affect the production this year as egg producers were able to import at least 700,000 parent stocks last year.

Uyehara said that what is needed is to fast-track approval of the avian influenza vaccine to protect the poultry population.

Pork max SRP not needed

Hog farmers’ group National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NatFed) said there is no need to implement maximum suggested retail price (SRP) on pork after the DA said that it is considering its imposition amid the high retail price in the markets.

In an interview, NatFed vice chairman Alfred Ng added that the SRP was not proven effective in bringing down the retail price of farm products.

“There is really a disconnect between the retail price and the farmgate of liveweight,” Ng said.

Ng noted that the farmgate price only ranged between P220 and P240 per kilo but based on the monitoring of the DA, pork is still sold for as high as P460 per kilo.

According to Ng, traders want additional profits, causing the high retail price of pork.

At the same time, he said that the demand for pork is expected to continue until May and June because of the midterm elections.

“It’s a campaign period, so politicians release funds whether it is local government units or national, people have extra funds to buy pork,” he added.

Ng said that the retail price of pork is expected to go down as the hog producers, particularly those in Batangas, started to repopulate after being affected by the African swine fever last year.