DES MOINES, Iowa -- In the throes of a bird flu outbreak, South Korea has asked the United States to ship fresh eggs, marking the first time the Asian country has sought to buy large quantities from the United States.
The demand is good for a U.S. egg industry that's awash in the product, having replenished its flocks after a 2015 bird flu outbreak and ending up with an oversupply that sent domestic prices to industry lows -- about 79 cents a dozen earlier this month.
South Korea had been one of a few nations that issued a blanket ban on egg and poultry imports as the U.S.' 2015 outbreak resulted in the deaths of 49 million turkeys and chickens. But it seeks help now that it has lost about 26 million chickens -- and a third of its egg-laying hens -- to the H5N6 strain since November. It's South Korea's worst bird flu outbreak, surpassing the 14 million birds killed in 2014.
The agreement to export eggs was announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which kept prices from sliding further, according to Urner Barry protein market analyst Brian Moscogiuri. Although deals were still being signed, Moscogiuri said he was aware of contracts for three or four airline flights of eggs -- equivalent to as many as 3 million or 4 million eggs.
"We had never shipped shell eggs there before, so we did not have a formal protocol between our two governments," said Jim Sumner, president of the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council, an industry trade group that promotes the global export of U.S. poultry and eggs.
Some of the eggs were to arrive from Iowa, which is the nation's leading egg producer. Marcus Rust, the CEO of Rose Acre Farms, which supplies the second-most eggs in the U.S., said the demand comes at a good time for producers, who usually see a lull in the first few months of each year.
The U.S. has been called upon to help because it remains free of the bird flu in commercial poultry production. But the disease is a problem in Asia, Europe and other areas. Birds have died in Bulgaria, China, Iran, Japan, Nigeria and Taiwan, and at least three people have died and 19 people are sick in China from infections of the H7N9 strain.
Bird flu is still a threat in the United States, however, with the USDA saying last week that a wild mallard in Montana tested positive for the H5N2 strain of the virus.
"This finding serves as a powerful reminder that there is still avian influenza circulating in wild birds, and producers and industry need to continue to be vigilant about biosecurity to protect domestic poultry," Dr. Jack Shere, USDA chief veterinarian, said in a statement.
SundayMonday Business on 01/15/2017