The price of eggs has gone up by as much as Tk 15 per dozen in retail markets, forcing consumers who are already overburdened with high inflation to spend more to avail the low-cost source of protein.

Retailers were selling farmed brown eggs at Tk 150 to Tk 165 per dozen in Dhaka yesterday, as per the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

This is 10 percent higher than that a week ago.

Prices have increased over the last seven days, said Nurul Alam Shikdar, a retailer of Pallabi, who was asking Tk 174 for a dozen.

The weather was quite hot around a week or so ago and many layer poultry died and laid lesser eggs for not being able to eat properly, said Mohammad Amanat Ullah, president of an association of egg merchants in Tejgaon.

"In addition, layer production has also been low," he added.

There is a daily demand for 20 lakh to 22 lakh eggs at the Tejgaon market but a maximum of 15 lakh is available now, he said.

"We bought 100 eggs for Tk 1,190 on Tuesday. The price was Tk 1,200 on the following day but Tk 1,040 a week ago," he said.

Supply of eggs from the outer edges of the city has been disrupted for rains over the last couple of eggs, said Moshiur Raham, managing director of Paragon Group.

"Rains affect the entire supply chain," he said.

Capitalising on this situation, some traders held back their stocks to create an artificial crisis and raise prices, said a dealer in Dhaka, seeking anonymity.

"Even though they have enough eggs, they are supplying less. So, the price is going up," he said.

About 3.5 crore to 4 crore eggs are sold around the country on an average every day.

In fiscal year 2022-23, 2,337 crore eggs were produced around the country, according to the Department of Livestock Services. It was 2,335 crore the previous fiscal year.