WHOLESALE prices for eggs have taken a small dip in the wake of the Christmas break, but this is likely to be short-lived.

Having finished on a strong note before the holiday, the trade has to deal with the customary backlog after the seasonal shutdown.

See also: Surge in broiler chick placings to end the year

By this week, wholesale prices had eased by around 20p/doz across most colony and free-range sizes.

However, these levels are still generally high by recent standards, especially for colony, with prices still up on last summer by about 40p/ doz.

On free-range, where the current surpluses are mainly appearing, wholesale levels are now just slightly higher than last autumn.

Bounce back

The higher prices that prevailed earlier, during 2023 and early ’24, were specifically the result of the substantial shrinkage of the laying flock due to high production costs during that time.

At the Central Egg Agency, Andrew Crossland thinks the market will soon bounce back.

“Prices have eased a little bit with just getting over the Christmas glut.

Christmas glut

You have that lack of trading time and eggs back up on the farm. Give it another week or two, and I’d expect them to start firming up again as these surpluses disappear.”

“Colony levels are such that you don’t see a great deal anyway these days.

“And even now, post-Christmas, although we’ve got some free range around, the colony is reasonably tidy.”

UK flock size

“It’s not going to change into 2025, and we are going to see fewer colony birds as the year goes on,” he predicted.

For now, the move out of colony eggs, in readiness for their phasing out in the supermarkets, is being roughly matched by the steady increase in free-range capacity.

Poultry Network’s estimates of UK flock size, based on chick placings, indicate that by this coming March-April, the total number of birds in lay for all systems will have shown little overall change for 12 months.