Egg prices still shaky

U.S. egg prices eased again this week, but the market is still moving unevenly from region to region. (ams.usda.gov) The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on April 24 that national wholesale prices for loose, white Large shell eggs slipped 1 cent to $0.22 a dozen. New York wholesale prices for Large cartoned eggs delivered to retailers held at $0.65. (ams.usda.gov) In the Midwest, Large white shell eggs delivered to warehouses opened the week at $0.53 a dozen, while California’s benchmark for Large eggs fell 4 cents to $0.93. Those are both far below the spikes seen earlier in the bird-flu crunch. (ams.usda.gov) Stores are starting to pass some of that drop through to shoppers. USDA said the average advertised price for conventional caged eggs fell 25 cents this week to $1.43 a dozen, and promotions for conventional eggs nearly doubled from the prior cycle. (ams.usda.gov) The catch is that cheaper wholesale eggs do not mean every shelf is equally stocked. USDA said national shell-egg inventories fell nearly 4.5% at the start of the week, and Midwest inventories of Large eggs dropped about 21.5% as retailers pulled product into grocery promotions. (ams.usda.gov) That helps explain why prices can look calm in national reports while still feeling jumpy in stores and restaurants. A market can have moderate-to-heavy overall supplies and still tighten quickly in a region running aggressive features. (ams.usda.gov) The production backdrop is improving. In its April 15 outlook, USDA’s Economic Research Service said table-egg production expectations for 2026 were raised because layer inventories have grown, and its price outlook was lowered on recent trends and higher production expectations. (ers.usda.gov) Bird flu has not disappeared from the story. USDA’s April 24 market overview said there had been five weeks since the last significant highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak, after one new outbreak in a small commercial flock in northern Indiana was reported the prior week. (ams.usda.gov 1) (ams.usda.gov 2) Retail data show how mixed the shelf picture remains. In USDA’s latest grocery feature survey, Large white conventional eggs averaged $1.22 a carton in advertised specials, while Large brown cage-free eggs averaged $3.06 and pasture-raised Large brown eggs averaged $5.51. (ams.usda.gov) For shoppers, that means the egg shock has cooled, not vanished. National prices are lower, promotions are back, and inventories are still thin enough in some channels to keep the market shaky. (ams.usda.gov) (ers.usda.gov)