U.S. egg inventories up 4%

U.S. shell egg inventories increased 4% at the start of the latest marketing week, while wholesale prices for large eggs declined in key regional benchmarks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service. The agency’s weekly Egg Markets Overview, crawled Tuesday on USDA’s site, said no new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, were reported this week. The report said that marked seven weeks since the last significant outbreak. IndexBox separately summarized the USDA data in a late-May market update. ### Where did the 4% inventory increase show up? USDA’s weekly Egg Markets Overview said the inventory of shell eggs available for marketing at the start of the week increased 4%, while the national inventory of large class shell eggs rose 9%. The report also said the inventory share of large class shell eggs increased 2.3% to 49% of all shell egg stocks. Stocks moved higher in several specialty categories as well. (ams.usda.gov) USDA said cage-free egg stocks increased about 9.2%, while nutritionally enhanced egg inventories rose 8.8%. The agency said movement into marketing channels in the Midwest was slow to moderate, and the inventory of large shell eggs in that region was up 64%. ### Which wholesale prices fell in the latest USDA report? (ams.usda.gov) The USDA report said the New York market price for formula trading of large cartoned shell eggs delivered to retailers fell 6 cents to 70 cents per dozen this week. In the Midwest, wholesale prices for large white shell eggs delivered to warehouses also fell 6 cents to 53 cents per dozen. California prices also moved lower. (ams.usda.gov) USDA said the California benchmark for large shell eggs decreased 9 cents to 91 cents per dozen, while delivered prices on the California-compliant wholesale loose egg market fell 11 cents to 33 cents per dozen. The report described demand as light, supplies as moderate to heavy, and trading as slow. ### What did USDA say about bird flu pressure? (ams.usda.gov) USDA said no new HPAI outbreaks were reported this week, extending the market’s run without a significant outbreak to seven weeks. The report said that, in 2026 to date, HPAI in commercial table egg layer flocks had resulted in the depopulation of 15.2 million birds in 24 confirmed outbreaks across five states. (ams.usda.gov) That compares with USDA’s May 1 overview, which said 2026 losses had already reached 15.2 million birds in 24 confirmed outbreaks in five states, showing the cumulative figure was unchanged in the latest weekly report. ### How active were retailers and buyers? USDA said feature activity for shell eggs at retail grocery stores was steady from a week earlier. (ams.usda.gov) The agency also said promotions of nutritionally enhanced caged shell eggs increased and pricing was “slightly more attractive” than in the previous ad cycle. The Weekly Shell Egg Demand Indicator dated May 27, 2026, showed a reading of 1.90, down 3.5 points from the prior week. (ams.usda.gov) USDA describes that measure as a calculated estimate of demand for shell eggs based on current production and inventory clearance rates. ### What was the Europe comparison in the market update? IndexBox said EU Class A egg prices averaged 279.62 euros per 100 kilograms in the week ending May 24, 2026, according to its separate Europe market update cited in the briefing. (ams.usda.gov) The U.S. report and the EU figure come from different market series, but both were referenced in the late-May IndexBox coverage. (ams.usda.gov) USDA’s egg market reports page lists the weekly Egg Markets Overview, Weekly Shell Egg Inventory and related releases that market participants use to track the next update. The agency’s page was available Tuesday. (ams.usda.gov) (indexbox.io)