Need to Boost Egg Exports Amid Surplus Production

Iran’s egg production constitutes 1.3% of the 70-million-ton global egg production per year, placing the country at 11th place, a deputy agriculture minister said.

Hassan Rokni noted that as Iran’s egg production exceeds domestic demand, there is the need to export the product, IRNA reported. According to the official, Iran’s per capita egg production stands at 11.5 kilograms a year, which is 2 kilograms more than the world average. This is while each Iranian consumes 198 eggs or 10 kilograms per year, which is below the average for many other countries. Iran’s egg production stands at about 960,000 tons per year, Mehr News Agency quoting the head of the board of directors at Tehran’s Union of Producers of Egg-Laying Chicken, Nasser Nabipour, as saying. Domestic demand, according to Nabipour, stands at 850,000 tons. This indicates a surplus of more than 100,000 tons.

Rokni believes domestic infrastructures should be equipped and integrated with the latest technology and automation systems to improve production quality for increased exports. Turkey is Iran’s main rival in regional markets for eggs, especially in Afghanistan.

According to Farzad Talakesh, secretary-general of the union, Iran exported 40,000 tons of eggs last year (March 2016-17), about 55,000 tons less than the previous year’s figure.