Government to Maintain Egg Prices at 6000 Won Range... "Fair Trade Commission to Investigate if Collusion Detected"

6th '21st Price-Related Vice Ministers' Meeting' Held

On the 3rd, citizens were shopping at a large supermarket in downtown Seoul. According to the July Consumer Price Trends announced by Statistics Korea on the same day, the prices of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products rose by 9.7% compared to a year ago. In particular, eggs surged by 57.0%, marking the highest increase in four years since July 2017 (64.8%). Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] To curb soaring egg prices, the government is expediting compensation payments for culled laying hens and launching investigations into collusive practices.

On the 6th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance held the 21st Vice Ministerial Meeting on Prices at the Government Seoul Office, chaired by First Vice Minister Lee Eokwon, where these matters were discussed.

Since the outbreak of avian influenza (AI) last year, 16.71 million laying hens have been culled, causing egg prices to rise sharply. According to Statistics Korea, egg prices last month increased by 57.0% compared to the same month last year.

To stabilize egg prices, the government has been importing eggs from overseas and plans to import 100 million eggs each in this month and next month to ensure a significant price reduction.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the price of eggs per tray (30 eggs) was 7,821 won in February, but dropped to 7,545 won on the 1st of last month, 7,526 won on the 15th, and 7,140 won on the day of the announcement.

The government intends to make every effort to lower egg prices to the 6,000 won range. First, it will promptly complete compensation payments for culled laying hens to quickly restore the reduced number of laying hens.

The scale of emergency management stabilization funds will also be expanded from 15 billion won to 35 billion won, and interest rates will be temporarily lowered from 1.8% to 0% for three months from August to October. The supply price of imported eggs will be reduced from 4,000 won to 3,000 won, a 1,000 won decrease, and the share of direct sales at large supermarkets will be expanded to make it easier for consumers to access.

The Fair Trade Commission is conducting monitoring of egg prices, surveillance of collusion and prohibited acts by business associations, and preemptive guidance on legal violations. Going forward, the government plans to continuously monitor price trends and inventory changes through a joint inspection team of related agencies to detect signs of collusion. The inspection team will be composed of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Fair Trade Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Nonghyup, with the Director General of the Economic Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Economy and Finance overseeing the team.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.