Benchmark Drops 14% to 39.5 Cents on Broad White-Egg Softness

The national large white benchmark fell to 39.5 cents a dozen, down 14.1% from 46.0 cents on the week (USDA). The decline ran across every conventional white size tracked nationally. Per USDA's Oct. 9 Egg Markets Overview, negotiated wholesale prices moved steady to lower on moderate retail interest and light to moderate loose-egg demand.

• Jumbo white conventional loose led all national series, falling 34.7% week over week from 33.7 cents to 22.0 cents a dozen (USDA).
• Medium white conventional loose fell 23.0% from 35.6 cents to 27.4 cents a dozen (USDA).
• Extra large white conventional loose declined 20.7% from 41.7 cents to 33.1 cents a dozen (USDA).
• Large white cage-free loose dropped 21.9% from 32.0 cents to 25.0 cents a dozen (USDA), now 14.5 cents below conventional large white, an inverted cage-free premium of -37%.
• Large brown conventional loose moved against the grain, up 13.2% from 68.0 cents to 77.0 cents a dozen (USDA).
• New York large white delivered store door eased to 80.0 cents a dozen, down 3.6% from 83.0 cents (USDA).

APHIS reports no confirmed HPAI detections in egg-layer flocks in the past 60 days. U.S. shell egg inventory stood at 1,457 thousand cases as of Oct. 5 (USDA), 0.4% below the trailing four-week average, a marginally tight read. Northwest conventional total shell egg inventory is more constrained, at 60.6 thousand cases, 19% below the five-year median (USDA).

Fifty-five series have not updated in more than two weeks (USDA), including California cage-free brown loose delivered and California cage-free large white diet-enhanced delivered. Figures from those series are not reported this issue.