Egg prices jump by Tk 30-35 per dozen

Eggs have become costlier by Tk 30-35 to Tk 140 per dozen compared with prices two weeks ago in yet another blow to the consumers, especially the lower income people.

Eggs, the most affordable source of protein for lower-income people, are getting pricier at a time when they are struggling with higher cost of living.

On Thursday, this correspondent visited a number of kitchen markets in the capital city to find that depending on the size and quality, a dozen of farm chicken eggs are being sold at Tk 140 to Tk 150. In some places the asking price was even Tk 155 per dozen. The same eggs are sold at super shops at Tk 170-180 per dozen.

On the other hand, duck eggs are being sold at Tk 80 per hali ( 4 pieces), and domestic chicken eggs are being sold at Tk60-65 per hali.

A week ago the farm eggs were sold at Tk105 per dozen in the first week of the current month, while domestic chicken eggs sold at Tk 55-60 per hali, and duck eggs at Tk60-65 per hali.

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), responsible for consumer market monitoring, has acknowledged the price hike of all kinds of eggs.

The market monitoring cell of TCB reports that the egg price increased by Tk 8 to 10 per hali so far in January, compared with the price beginning of this month.

Bangladesh Egg Producers Association president Taher Ahmed Siddiqi told UNB that the demand for eggs usually increases in winter, while production has become stagnant.

Many farms were forced to shut their operations during the pandemic-induced lockdown, and are still closed due to the higher cost of production, and lower prices of eggs.

Production costs have risen by 70-80 percent in one and a half years amid a tectonic surge in feed prices, discouraging many to do trading amid the risk of losses.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh vice-president SM Nazer Hossain said consumers in Bangladesh are passing a hard time amid record price up of commodities for higher inflation.

Farm egg, broiler chicken, and cultured fish are key protein sources for millions of poor in the country, he said.

Prices of all such products have increased forcing a vast population to cut their protein and other nutrition-rich food intake, Nazer said.