Five more companies allowed to import 5 crore eggs

The government has allowed five more companies to import 5 crore eggs to bring the prices down in the local market.

The approval was given to the five companies to import one crore eggs each, confirmed commerce ministry's Public Relations Officer Md Haider Ali on Sunday (8 October).

The companies which were given permission are: Union Venture Limited, JFJ Paradise Connection, Layek Enterprise, Messers Lacky Enterprise and Messers Pinky Traders.

So far, 15 companies have been given permission to import a total of 15 crore eggs. 

The imported eggs have not arrived in the country, even after 20 days of import permit.

Importers said that import permits were given to them on 2 October. Since then, many have started opening letters of credit. However, the eggs have not yet arrived in the country.

Meanwhile, egg prices in India have increased due to the news of Bangladesh's imports. Each egg in India now costs around Rs 5.70, which was Rs 4.80-4.90 before import permission was granted in Bangladesh.

According to importers, each egg will cost at least Tk10 to import into Bangladesh due to price hike of eggs in India and the 33% duty imposed by the Bangladeshi government on imported eggs.

Zakir Hossain, proprietor of Cheese Gallery, told The Business Standard that efforts are being made to import eggs quickly.

Meanwhile, the farm's chicken red eggs are currently being sold at Tk12-12.50 while white eggs are being sold between Tk 11.66-12 in Dhaka markets.

The egg market became volatile a few months ago, but the price started to fall after the commerce ministry announced to monitor the market. Egg prices went as high as Tk15 each. The government set the price of an egg at Tk12.

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim said the price of eggs should not be more than Tk12 a piece at the retail level as the production cost per egg is around Tk10.50.

Egg producers said before the pandemic, the daily production of eggs in the country stood at around five crore pieces. But during the pandemic, many farms have been closed due to chronic losses.

The Bangladesh Poultry Industry Central Council said the current daily egg production has fallen below four crore pieces due to the closure of many layer farms.

According to producers, feed prices have gone up due to rising prices of various ingredients, which increased the cost of production.