For the first time in 2025, the US dried egg market is coming under pressure. This shift is not driven by a material change in availability, but rather a combination of diminishing external pressures and evolving pricing dynamics. Inventories of dried egg products remain exceptionally tight. However, as the impact of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) diminishes and spring migration comes to a close, further processors are beginning to show more flexibility in their pricing strategies. This marks a contrast to earlier in the year, when sharp price increases were driven by escalating input costs and supply chain disruptions related to bird flu. Since reaching all-time highs, input costs have dropped significantly over the past three months. Liquid whole egg prices have fallen by 49.4% from their peak, while liquid whites have experienced a 43.1% decline. Liquid yolk, however, has decreased by a more modest 8.9%, supported by strong demand from the food manufacturing sector, which has helped insulate this segment from the broader downward trend affecting other categories.
Despite these reductions in raw material costs, egg powders have shown surprising resilience. The primary reason for this is the ongoing tightness in inventory. Processors have been drying only enough product to meet existing commitments, leaving little to no surplus. With product moving at profitable levels—whether in the form of shell eggs or liquids—there has been little incentive to tie up cash in high-priced inventory. USDA data shows that dried processing volumes in April were 40% lower than the five-year average.
Although the USDA ceased reporting national dried inventory levels years ago, frozen egg stocks are often used as a proxy for surplus, with processors relying on frozen stock to manage inventory fluctuations. In this context, frozen stocks can act as a useful barometer for overall egg availability. USDA data shows a precipitous decline in frozen inventories over the past year, reaching their lowest point since 2008. This sharp reduction reflects the lack of surplus in the market, which had limited downward pressure on prices until recently.
Processors had been cautious about lowering prices, given the volatile nature of the market in recent years. Even as input costs were falling, many were reluctant to adjust powdered prices until they were confident that the current pricing environment would hold and that the threat of bird flu had subsided. While bird flu may remain a permanent factor in the marketplace, its spread has slowed considerably in recent weeks. In April, only two reported cases among laying hens were recorded, affecting fewer than one million birds. This is in stark contrast to the nearly 33 million birds culled in the first quarter due to the virus.
With spring migration largely completed and the risk of additional outbreaks waning, processors have finally begun adjusting their prices, particularly on forward contracts. As a result, dried whole egg and whites have each dropped by $1.00/lb. so far this week, while yolk has fallen by $0.50/lb. While the market remains tight, this shift in pricing reflects growing confidence that lower costs can be sustained, helping to bring the cost of finished product more in line with input prices.
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Image source: Adobe
Written by Karyn Rispoli
