Two or three months, at least, is what will be needed for the price paid by the consumer for the egg to fall from the high value reached since the end of January, as a result of a supply that fell sharply given the death of hundreds of thousands of laying hens due to the intense heat wave in the middle of the first month of 2022.
Just over a month after the problem, the price of maple, which prior to that climatic adversity was around $150, climbed to about $300 in some specific cases.
At a stall located on Camino Carrasco, El Nabo Contento, this week the merchant Mario Moreira had to put the price of the maple of 30 jumbo-sized eggs, the largest, at $ 280.
The price range is very varied.they can be found in different fairs and stalls from $180 and even for a little less, but in this case they are smaller caliber eggs, with low weights, about 35 grams, while those worth about $300 have double the weight and, therefore, yield much more.
Mario Fasanelo, poultry producer in the area of San Bautista, in Canelones, wholesaler in the Metropolitan Agrifood Unit (UAM), highlighted The Observer two aspects that “people know” considers relevant: on the one hand, that the only explanation for the price increase is that production went down and demand remains the same and, on the other, that “There will be no shortages, we are recovering the capacity to produce day by day”.
He also asked to take into account that During 2021, for example, the 360-unit crate was produced at a cost of $1,500 and that crate could often be sold for $1,000 or a little more, because there was excessive production, that is, it was sold below the cost coverage of production.
For several months “people bought eggs at a very low price, but the producer lost money.”
The Farm Observatory of the UAM, within the framework of the disclosure that it carries out each week (in two moments) on the reference prices for horticultural and farm products, this Monday 21 reported the following wholesale values for each of the product sizes.
EO
“The mortality that occurred due to the heat wave was something tremendous, there are people who do not remember something like it in 40 years. Not only did many hens die, but also the one that remained lowered its production and in the case of hens of a certain age, they no longer recover the previous level of production,” explained Fasanelo.
Another factor to take into account, not related to the climatic episode, is that it is normal that during the summer the laying is smaller and that the eggs are generally smaller in size: the hen eats for fewer hours, due to the high daytime temperatures .
Diego Capera, who works at fairs in the capital, offered at the beginning of this week egg maples from $190 to $250, with three different sizes.
“People, when the price goes up, buy the cheapest egg and suddenly it’s not idealbecause paying $20 plus the maple gets a bigger egg that yields much more“, he commented. He also said that “although the price goes up, it is a product that people buy anyway, because it is widely used“.
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Producers assure that there will be no shortage.
As reported to The Observer in January, Juan Ignacio Buffa, then interim minister of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), Due to the heat wave, 400,000 laying hens died, which represents 10% of the national stock.
This set the declaration of “poultry emergency” throughout the countrywhich enables the producer who demonstrates the affectation to access financial aid so that the recovery of the productive matrix is easier.
Buffa also highlighted that “the sector has a rapid response capacity”.
