Indian eggs to hit market next week at ‘much lower prices’

Commerce ministry officials expect eggs imported from India to start arriving in the market at "much lower prices" in the coming weeks, a month after the government announced egg imports to increase the supply in the market and to stabilise the price.

According to them, at least three companies will import eggs from the Indian state of Haryana by next Tuesday.

Saifur Rahman, the owner of Tiger Trading, informed that they along with Popular Trade and Ripa Enterprises had initiated the process of opening LC (Letter of Credit), reports bdnews24.com.

The egg shipment will initially be sourced from Haryana, with each egg costing Rs 5.5. A 33 per cent duty will be levied on this price. Each of the three companies will import 240,000 eggs in the first phase.

"We anticipate that each egg will be priced at around Tk 11 for consumers. By removing intermediaries, we are streamlining the distribution process and partnering with Happy Haat, an organisation that will store our eggs in their warehouse," Saifur elaborated.

Ruhul Amin, an additional secretary at the import and domestic trade cell of the Ministry of Commerce, said that it has taken some time for traders to initiate the process.

However, importers have now confirmed that these eggs will be in the market next week, he added.

In the past two months, the soaring prices of eggs and broiler chicken meat have plunged people into financial trouble amid a spike in commodity prices.

To address this, the commerce ministry fixed the maximum price of eggs at Tk 12 apiece on Sept 14.

As the market remained volatile, the ministry started allowing egg imports on Sept 17. So far, 15 companies have been approved to import a total of 150 million eggs.