(Original title: Avian flu shock + holiday demand rises US egg prices rose 43% year-on-year in October)
Zhitong Finance APP learned that due to the severe impact of bird flu on the US egg industry, coupled with the rising demand for eggs before the holiday season, egg prices are soaring. Egg prices rose more than 10 percent month-on-month in October and 43 percent year-on-year, according to the latest data released on Tuesday. Eggs posted the largest monthly and annual increases so far in the USDA’s Food Price Outlook.
The United States has suffered the worst bird flu ever. Some 50.3 million birds have been infected with the virus since early February, according to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Bird flu is relatively rare in the United States, the CDC said. The last time was in 2015, when a record 50.5 million birds were infected with bird flu.
In addition, U.S. consumers are buying eggs in bulk ahead of the holiday season and stocking up on essentials ahead of winter. Karyn Rispoli, an egg market reporter for Urner Barry, a US meat protein price portal, said consumers are feeling the contraction in the economy and even though eggs are slightly more expensive than usual, they are still the most affordable protein option.
Under the influence of high inflation, Americans may usher in the most expensive Thanksgiving dinner in history. The average cost of a Thanksgiving meal for 10 people this year has risen about 20 percent to $64.05 this year, from an average of $53.31 last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 37th annual survey. This is the largest increase since the organization conducted a survey on the cost of Thanksgiving dinner in 1986, the report said. “Inflation, which erodes consumer purchasing power, is a big factor in the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner this year,” said Roger Klein, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Since the beginning of this year, the year-on-year increase in CPI in the United States has remained at a high level of 7%-9%. The latest statistics from the US Department of Labor show that in October, the US CPI rose by 7.7% year-on-year, of which food prices rose by 10.9%. While headline inflation slowed slightly in October, this year’s food price inflation is the highest since 1979.