The Mintec price for chicken in the EU fell 1.5% to EUR 261/100 kg between mid-May and late-June 2022. Similarly, Mintec price for eggs in the EU reached EUR 179/100 kg, down 7.3% between mid-April and the end of June.
EU chicken prices reached a record high level in the first fortnight of May due to high cost of production. However, prices have declined recently despite high Avian Influenza (AI) related culling of birds in France. According to the European Commission, the impact of AI on meat production has been moderate in France and chicken production in the country could increase slightly by 0.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) in 2022. Also, as per market participants, all primary chicken-producing EU states have been re-aligning their prices (price correction) from the historically high prices seen since the beginning of 2022. As a result, EU chicken prices have eased in recent months. Persistent high chicken demand in the EU market has prevented prices from falling further.
In the EU egg market, prices declined due to the larger (y-o-y) number of egg-laying hens placed in March and May, which kept the market well supplied. In the short to medium term, the movement of feed grain prices is likely to be the key watch-out factor for the EU chicken and egg prices, considering the high correlation between the three markets.
