US: First quarter exports of shell eggs up 72%

In the first 4 months of 2013 US shell egg exports were 50.7 million dozen, a hike of 72% compared to the first quarter of 2012 (29.5 million), according to figures released by the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) International Egg and Poultry Review.

The overall shell egg exports for 2012 were 127.6 million dozen an increase of 54% on the 2011 figure of 82.8 million dozen. Since January 2012, shell egg exports, excluding hatching eggs, have been broken down into fresh chicken eggs, fresh bird eggs, and processed/cooked bird eggs. In 2012, the breakdown was fresh chicken eggs: 107.8 million dozen; fresh bird eggs: 18.3 million dozen; and processed/cooked eggs: 1.4 million dozen.

The top 5 export destinations for US shell eggs are Hong Kong, Canada, Mexico, United Arab Emirates and the EU. Exports to Hong Kong in the first quarter of 2013 were 17.1 million dozen up from 13.2 million in the same period of 2012.

First quarter exports to Mexico totaled 12.9 million, a sharp rise from the 2012 figure of 478,539 dozen. This was due to a series of outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian in Mexico in June, 2012, which resulted in a shortage of shell eggs.

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