Egg Industry - August 2008

^➤INDUSTRYNEWS

Golden Oval shows profit for quarter

Golden Oval Eggs, LLC, showed net income of $2.8 million in the company’s third fiscal quarter ended May 31 compared to a loss of $1 million the previous year. This year’s income was on net sales of $56.6 million, an increase of $3.6 million or 6.8 percent over the third quarter the prior fiscal year. Pounds sold were 66.5 million, a 41.4 percent decrease from a year earlier.

The decrease is due to a significant reduction of the Millersburg, Ohio, facility egg supply ( 15. 9 million pounds), which resulted in an impairment charge in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Additional causes of the decline include a decrease in pounds available to sell from production and the Ren-ville, Minn., and Thompson, Iowa, facilities as a result of reductions in flock sizes associated with an increase in the amount of space allotted to each bird in compliance with animal care guidelines promugated by industry groups ( 2 million pounds), and a decrease in pounds available to sell as a result of the company exiting certain low margin busi-

nesses ( 9.6 million pounds).

The average selling price per pound sold increased from 54.1 cents to 77.9 cents, a 44 percent increase, as a result of higher selling prices executed in an environment of sharply increased liquid egg markets.

Net income for the nine months ended May 31 was a profit of $9.3 million compared to a net loss of $9.4 million the same period a year earlier. Net sales for the nine months were $165.2 million, an increase of $18.1 million, or 12. 3 percent over the first nine months of the prior year. The average selling price per pound increased from 47.8 cents to 72.9 cents, or 52.5 percent.

No change in layer numbers

Table egg type layer numbers showed no change on June 1 compared to a year ago, according to USDA’s Chicken and Eggs report. This compares to a 1 percent year-over-year decline the previous month. Eggs per 100 table egg type layers on June 1, however, were down 1 percent from previous-year levels.

Egg-type chicks hatched during May

2008 totaled 42.7 million, up 12 percent from May 2007.

May egg exports decline from 2007

Data appearing in the July 19^th Monday Line published by the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) documents a 60 percent decline in shell egg exports in May 2008 compared to the corresponding month in 2007. According to Dr. Renan Zhuang, the USAPEEC economist citing USDA figures, exports of 4.24 million dozen for the month generated $3.56 million, corresponding to 83 cents per dozen. The volume exported represented 0.8 percent of total May production of 543 million dozen and is equivalent to the output of 2. 2 million hens over a given month. The decline was due to reduced shipments to Hong Kong (-57 percent), Mexico (-86 percent) and China (-79 percent) which comprise the largest importing nations.