India’s egg exports surge to fill Malaysia’s acute shortage

Malaysia’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security agreed to temporarily allow the import of chicken eggs from foreign countries, adding that the decision will be reviewed when the domestic supply stabilises.

While Middle Eastern countries such as Oman and Qatar are the main destinations for India’s eggs, the export landscape over recent months has changed with significant orders from countries here output is plummeted, including Malaysia, which previously exported eggs.

A shortage of over 150 million eggs

Following the imports of eggs from foreign countries, the eggs shortage in Malaysia was reduced to 1 million in December, according to the country’s Agriculture and Food Security Minister, Mohamad Sabu, CNA reported. This compares to a shortage of 157 million eggs in November and 118 million eggs in November.

“For the first time, Malaysia is buying large quantities of eggs from India, and it seems that India’s egg exports to Malaysia will remain strong during the first half of 2023,” Sasti Kumar, joint managing director at Namakkal-based Ponni Farms, one of India’s leading egg exporters, told Reuters. He added that India shipped 5 million eggs to Malaysia in December, 10 million in January and up to 15 million in February.

Egg imports from India have helped Malaysia bring prices down from the record highs seen in December. The president of the Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Association of Malaysia, Tan Chee Hee, is positive that egg production in the country will recover in the coming months as the government increases subsidies.