ARMENIA IMPORTS RECORD VOLUME OF EGGS IN 2013

Black Sea Grain
Jan 15 2014

15.01.2014

Armenia faced a record hike in the level of egg imports in November
2013. During this month the country imported over 7 million eggs,
according to the recent report of the Ministry of Agriculture.

As a result 15 million eggs were imported in total for the year,
which is a 15 year record for Armenia. In all of 2012, the country
only imported 350,000 eggs.

Such a dramatic rise in imports follows the decrease of local supply
by the domestic producers.

The report of the Ministry of Agriculture says that during the second
and third quarter of the year the volume of domestic eggs production
dropped by about 20% in a year-to-year comparison.

According to the reports most egg imports to Armenia come from
Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, from Georgia and the Netherlands. The
producers say that the rise in imports is because the foreign eggs
are cheaper, so for Armenian eggs producers it is hard to compete
with the dumping prices.

The customs price of a Ukrainian egg is AMD 51 (US$0.12) and Armenian
producers say that it is too low for them to increase the volume of
production. Still the domestic producers occupy the largest share
of the market – Armenia consumes 40-45 mln eggs per month. However,
experts are afraid that in 2014 the volume of egg imports will continue
to rise.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress