Armenia imports record volume of eggs in 2013

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.