Egg Prices Enter 6,000 Won Range After About 7 Months... Hong Nam-gi Calls It "Welcome News"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Eggs, which had soared in price to be compared to 'gold prices,' have entered the 6,000 won range (based on 30 eggs) for the first time in about seven months since January.

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, shared this news on his social media service (SNS) on the 12th, saying, "This is certainly welcome news." He stated, "The government has made many efforts to normalize the number of laying hens, including compensation payments for culling and financial support for restocking laying hens. As a result, for farms that culled hens, restocking is almost complete, and additional restocking has been carried out on other farms, restoring domestic egg production to a level similar to the average year (about 43 million eggs per day)."

However, he added, "Due to the impact of COVID-19, domestic demand has increased, such as increased household consumption, and domestic supply is still not sufficient to meet this increased demand. Until supply recovers to last year's level, we are temporarily meeting the shortage through imports."

The government is implementing measures including ▲applying tariff quotas on egg imports ▲expanding the processing capacity for imported eggs ▲reducing the government supply price of imported eggs (initially 4,450 won → currently 3,000 won) ▲allocating more than half of the imported volume for direct consumer sales at large supermarkets ▲and promoting the safety of imported eggs.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong emphasized, "Since egg prices are still maintaining a higher level compared to the average year, as promised, we will make every effort to keep egg prices in the 6,000 won range after today and ultimately restore them to the level before the outbreak of avian influenza (AI)."

In this regard, the Ministry of Economy and Finance has urgently established a Price Situation Monitoring Team under the Economic Policy Bureau and decided to operate a joint inspection team (overall, production, distribution, sales) with related ministries starting today. Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "We will closely monitor whether the measures taken so far are properly checked on the ground, and if any problems are found, we will promptly take action in cooperation with related ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Fair Trade Commission, and Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT)."

Deputy Prime Minister Hong reiterated, "There is nothing more important than taking care of people's livelihoods. Eggs are a symbolic item directly connected to people's livelihoods, as the entire population consumes about one egg per person per day. Therefore, stabilizing egg prices is important." He added, "To alleviate the suffering of the already struggling low-income people due to the fourth wave of COVID-19, the government will do its utmost."