Egg, one of the main sources of protein, became pricier last week as the city grocers were charging Tk 12 for a single piece of farm egg (brown) from the consumers.
Both the city traders and customers said the price for one dozen of the farm eggs (brown) hit Tk 132 in the capital on Friday, marking a Tk-10 hike per twelve pieces in a week.
White farm egg also became costlier in the week, rising to Tk 124 per 12-piece on the day marking Tk 6.0-8.0 a dozen hike in seven days.
Duck eggs, Sonali and Pakistani chicken eggs were retailed at Tk 180-190 per 12-piece while indigenous chicken eggs at Tk 210-220 a dozen on the day.
Adil Rahman, a grocer at Dhanmondi 15, said he bought farm eggs at Tk 950 per 100-piece from his supplier which was Tk 890-900 before Eid-ul-Azha.
Md Abul Khayer, proprietor of Al Madina Enterprise at Tejgaon in the city, said egg supply from the farm level squeezed during the Eid vacation which is one of the main causes for the sudden price hike.
He said the farm level price of the brown egg is now Tk 825-850 per 100-piece which is 10-year high.
Md Tahir Ahmed Siddiqi, President of the Bangladesh Egg Producers' Association (BEPA), told the FE that production cost of a single piece egg has increased to at least Tk 8.5 amid an upward trend in poultry feed prices.
Feed prices rose by 50 per cent in last one year, Mr Siddiqi noted.
He said thousands of poultry farms closed their operation during coronavirus outbreak. Due to the pandemic-induced government holidays and lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 most of the farms incurred heavy monetary losses. The closed farms couldn't be reopened due to a lack of finance, he mentioned.
However, the demand for eggs surged in recent months amid a rising trend in prices of other sources of protein which has made eggs costlier again", he added.
He said egg production has declined by at least 15 per cent in the current year (2022) than that of the pre-pandemic level.
Sources at the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) said that the country produces 16-17 billion pieces of eggs per annum.
