Egg prices are likely to rise in December due to high demand and the effect of bird flu, the Egg Board Association said Monday.

In an interview with dzBB, Egg Board Association Irwin Ambal there is a high demand for eggs because December is the “fixed season of consumption and more schools are ordering eggs with the return of face-to-face classes.

Abad said price of eggs is at a “historical high” and will continue to rise during the holiday season.

“This price that we see is a historical high. This is the first time we’re seeing an increase like this. This started in the middle of the year. It is very much affected by supply and demand. So, in general, we expect the price to go up this Christmas,” Abad said.

A tray of eggs is sold at around P205 to 210, from P185.

Ambal said there is a problem in supply because egg farmers in Central Luzon, especially in Pampanga, Tarlac, and Bulacan are affected by bird flu because of migratory birds.

“Many farmers are affected by this (bird flu), especially those in the north of Manila, in Central Luzon. So this started around February and during the first and second quarters, our production was affected. So we really had a decline in our supply,” Ambal said.

“The movement in the price, especially during these past two weeks was caused by the problem in the supply in Central Luzon... people from Central Luzon go down to Batangas to buy eggs and supply them to the areas of Central Luzon. Manila isn’t the only one competing for the supply in Batangas now,” he added.

Ambal said that the country is having a difficulty importing breeders from other countries since these are banned for having a high incidence of bird flu.

“Our industry wants to augment the supply. But, as you can see on the news, all the poultry products and breeder stocks from parts of North America and Europe cannot enter the country because they are banned,” Ambal said.

“Our ban on Europe is off-and-on because of the record high incidence of avian influenza worldwide. Europe is where the egg breeders come from. We are trying to find other suppliers of breeders,” he added.

Ambal suggested that the country should import breeders from countries like Australia which are not affected by bird flu. Jaspearl Tan/DMS