South Africa has been hit by the third cycle of avian flu, and a new strain of the virus H7N6 was discovered in June 2023.
From the end of May to 19th September, South Africa lost between 15% and 20% of the national chicken population, with four million chickens destroyed amid the South African avian flu epidemic, translating to a shortage in egg and poultry supply with several retailers alerting customers, shelves could soon be empty. According to the South African Poultry Association (Sapa), the egg supply situation will start to ease in October.
Mintec’s price data indicates South Africa’s chicken price increased to ZAR 34.80/kg, up 1.1% month-on-month (m-o-m), a 10.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) rise (data to August 2023).
According to industry sources, South Africa exported $19.7M of eggs in 2021, making it the world's 36th largest exporter of eggs. The main destinations of egg exports are Mozambique, Eswatini and Nigeria.
However, in 2021, Mozambique’s government banned live bird imports and imports of meat, eggs and feathers from South Africa after an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu was reported. Considering Mozambique is South Africa’s main export market for eggs, accounting for 62%, should this occur again, it could significantly impact South Africa’s export levels.