By Tom Polansek and Sybille de La Hamaide

CHICAGO/PARIS (Reuters) – Severe outbreaks of bird flu in the United States and France are tightening global egg supplies and raising prices for the food staple as the war in Ukraine disrupts shipments to Europe and the Middle East.

Consumers who use eggs to replace more expensive meat and protein as a source of protein are most affected by rising prices. The Easter and Passover holidays in Europe and the United States are a time when demand is high. This happens because families use eggs for baking and coloring Easter eggs.

The worst bird flu outbreak in America since 2015 has claimed more than 19,000,000 egg-laying poultry birds on American farms. It also decimated about 6%, according to Reuters analysis of data from the federal and state governments. France is currently experiencing its worst bird flu outbreak in history, with 8% of the egg-laying chickens being killed.

Whole flocks of infected poultry must be culled so that the disease can not spread to other birds.

Egg suppliers are facing new challenges with the deadly virus and war, as well as labor shortages and high energy costs.

Bakeries and food businesses that have to deal with higher prices for eggs can lose profits. The U.N. food agency reported that world food prices rose by nearly 13% to record levels in March due to increased grain prices. Ukraine was a key exporter of corn and wheat.

Producers expect egg prices to remain high because it may take several months for infected farms to resume operation. The infected eggs can also affect the work of facilities that make shell eggs into liquid eggs, which are used to make food products such as pancake mix and eggs sandwiches.

    “The product industry is in a general panic,” said Marcus Rust, chief executive of Rose Acre Farms, the second-largest U.S. egg producer. He said that the company had lost approximately 1.5 million chicken-laying birds to bird flu in Iowa, and also had to close a processing facility.

“EVERYBODY IS RUNNING SHORT”

Iowa, America’s top egg-producing nation, was hit hard by the cullings of two large flocks with more than 5,000,000 chickens. Nebraska declared Wednesday that it would be culling a flock exceeding 1.7 million chickens. This was due to the sheer volume of the poultry farms, which is much larger than European farms.

The March wholesale price of large eggs in the U.S. Midwest was $3/dozen. This is almost 200% more than the spot market. The record price of $3.09 per dozen was set in the COVID-19 epidemic. Urner Barry noted that liquid eggs, such as whole eggs, are reaching record heights.

France’s farm office FranceAgriMer reported that wholesale egg prices in France have increased 69% over last year. This could lead to higher food product prices made from eggs for consumers.

Jean-Philippe Puig is the chief executive at French Agri-Food Group Avril which also owns Lesieur sauce maker. It is up to you to convince the supermarkets that a price hike will be accepted.

According to U.S. government records, the United States has increased imports of eggs from Spain, France and Italy to increase supplies following its worst ever outbreak in bird flu. Analysts said that imports have become less feasible due to the recent outbreaks in Europe.

Karyn Rispoli, Urner Barry’s egg market reporter said that the global shortage is “very much becoming a global problem in terms of overall supply.” “Unfortunately everyone is experiencing a shortage of supplies.”

WAR REDIRECTS DEMAND

Supply chains are being disrupted by the Middle East’s outbreak of war and not only disease.

Santosh Kumar who imports eggs from Farzana Trading in Dubai said that he was not aware of any shipments to the UAE by Ukraine for the past two week. Farzana imports eggs instead from Turkey, he stated.

Data from Ukraine’s statistical service show that Ukraine made 14.1 billion eggs by 2021. The French egg industry group CNPO reported that France was the largest producer of eggs in the EU, producing 16.2 billion more eggs than Ukraine.

The EU’s largest egg supplier has been Ukraine in recent years. It accounts for around half the EU’s imports.

According to Loic Coulombel (CNPO vice president), Middle Eastern countries who bought Ukrainian eggs prior to the war are now trying to locate replacement supplies in Europe.

He stated that there is an epidemic of bird flu not only in France, but all over Europe. “There’s no other European country with enough bird flu to offset the shortage.”

French food companies will probably reduce the output of certain processed products or modify their recipes to meet high egg prices. Coulombel said that about 1,000,000 eggs are produced in France’s Brittany-Normandy region.

Liz Rehberg from Green Bay (Wisconsin), is the owner of The Bakery, a cake- and pastry shop. She said in recent weeks that 15 dozen eggs cost $45 compared to $26. Rehberg is currently weighing whether to increase or decrease the size of her baked goods.

    “You’re just ordering it because you need eggs,” Rehberg said. Then, you see the price and think “Oh my god!”