China’s egg prices cracking under weight of low demand, over supply 【Voice_over】 Egg prices in China have been dropping steadily since February, but now, they’ve officially gone splat. In some places, retail prices for eggs hit a low of about 80 US cents per kilo, a drop of about 27 percent compared to the same period last year. An egg farmer in eastern China’s Shandong Province said he’s selling at a loss, with feed and labor costs going up. 【Sound_bite】 Zhai Zhanwei, Egg farmer: “Egg prices are hovering around 90 US cents per kilogram. It used to cost 1.3 US dollars per kilogram at this time of the year.” 【Voice_over】 Meanwhile, some egg retailers are more cautious about replenishing their stocks as shoppers’ demand remains low. 【Sound_bite】 Sun Mengmeng, Egg trader: “I felt that consumer demand for eggs was relatively low and even food processing companies are purchasing fewer eggs nowadays.” 【Voice_over】 Despite shrinking demand, the country’s egg supplies have been increasing since last year. Data from Chinese information portal SCi99.com shows that the number of egg-laying hens in the country stood at about 1.2 billion at the end of March, with a year-on-year increase of nearly four percent.
