Wholesale egg prices have 'plunged,' analyst says — shoppers may soon see some relief

cnbc.com:

Wholesale egg prices have fallen significantly in recent weeks, a dynamic that may soon offer relief for consumers shell-shocked by record-high prices at the grocery store this year.

How quickly — and how much — retail prices will fall is unclear, however, experts said.

Wholesale prices dropped to $4.83 per dozen Friday, a 44% decline from their peak of $8.58 per dozen on Feb. 28, according to Expana, which tracks agricultural commodity prices.

The pullback comes amid a reprieve from major bird flu outbreaks so far in March and weaker consumer demand, which have helped the nation's egg supply to start recovering, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture market analysis published Friday.

Prices have «plunged,» said Karyn Rispoli, an egg market analyst and managing editor at Expana.

Market dynamics are also putting «extreme pressure» on wholesale prices to fall further, Rispoli wrote in an e-mail.

Consumers paid $5.90 for a dozen large grade-A eggs, on average, in February, a record high, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Retail prices have blown past their prior record — $4.82 per dozen in January 2023 — and have nearly doubled from a year ago.

Prices had surged amid a deadly outbreak of bird flu in the U.S., which has killed millions of egg-laying chickens and crimped egg supply, according to agricultural economists and market experts. The U.S. Department of Justice also opened an antitrust investigation into the pricing and supply practices of major producers.

However, bird flu outbreaks seem to have tapered off in March, at least for now.

«Slowing [bird flu] outbreaks are leading to improved supply availability and wholesale market prices have responded with sharp declines over the past week,» the