Scorching heatwave cooks up egg-splosive price surge in Thailand

The sweltering heatwave cooking Thailand’s poultry industry has hatched a price surge in duck eggs, scrambling to 4.60 baht each in Khon Kaen. This unexpected cluck was laid out by The Layer Duck Farmers Association today, April 22, joining a recent 20 satang rise in chicken egg prices to 3.60 baht each last week, resulting in a sunny-side-up increase of nearly 6%.

Farmers attribute the increasing prices to a dwindling supply caused by the persistent heat, which places undue stress on the poultry, resulting in reduced egg production, reported Bangkok Post.

One such farmer, Amphol Saenna, from Khon Kaen province, reported a significant drop in his birds’ output. His flock, usually yielding an average of 800 eggs daily, is now producing around 600 eggs,

“The extremely hot weather has put the ducks off their food.”

Saenna expressed hope for a return to normal production levels once the weather cools down.

In related news, a significant reduction in Thailand’s sugarcane yield in the 2023–24 crop year has been reported by the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board (OCSB). This decrease in production is attributed to severe drought conditions and is expected to have an impact on the worldwide sugar supply.

Thailand is the second-largest exporter of sugar globally, following Brazil. Therefore, any decrease in its production could cause strain on the global market.

A representative of the farmers on the board, Verasak Kwanmuang, revealed that sugarcane harvests had decreased by 11.7 million tonnes from the previous crop year, with an output of 93.9 million tonnes. The total amount of cane delivered by farmers to sugar factories for crushing in the 2023–24 crop year was 82.2 million tonnes. Of this, 70% was comprised of fresh sugar cane, and the remaining 30% was burned cane.

The 2023-24 crop year saw 57 sugar mills generating 8.77 million tonnes of sugar and 3.55 tonnes of molasses. Each tonne of sugar cane produced 107 kilogrammes of sugar, with a commercial cane sugar sweetness index of 12.35.