In China, the humble egg, a longtime supporting act in many dishes, is now center stage.
Around dining room tables, budget-conscious families are griping about its sudden spike in price. In the countryside, befuddled farmers who complained of a glut of eggs last year now fret about scarcity. At food stalls, frustrated cooks are reeling from the one-two punch of egg prices and rising energy costs from the Iran war.
Even state media has taken to using the term “rocket eggs” to describe skyrocketing prices.
Egg prices are up by more than 40 percent from a year ago, according to an index that tracks the top producing provinces. They recently hit a 10-year high by another benchmark that tracks prices at a wholesale market in Guantao, in northern China, catching industry insiders by surprise.
In a country that consumes more eggs per capita than almost any other in the world, the surging price is especially painful. And it has become a paradox in an economy still struggling to shake off widespread deflation, in which industrial overcapacity and reluctant consumers have led to falling prices for several years. (The price of pork, for example, recently hit a 16-year low.)
The war in Iran has pushed up energy prices and stoked nascent inflation, but this has been accompanied by a slowdown in economic growth, an unwelcome combination.
