<div><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Eggs have become costlier by Tk 30-35 to Tk 140 per dozen compared with prices two weeks ago in yet another blow to the consumers, especially the lower income people.&nbsp;</span><br></b></div><div><br></div><div>Eggs, the most affordable source of protein for lower-income people, are getting pricier at a time when they are struggling with higher cost of living.</div><div><br></div><div>On Thursday, this correspondent visited a number of kitchen markets in the capital city to find that depending on the size and quality, a dozen of farm chicken eggs are being sold at Tk 140 to Tk 150.&nbsp; In some places the asking price was even Tk 155 per dozen. The same eggs are sold at super shops at Tk 170-180 per dozen.</div><div><br></div><div>On the other hand, duck eggs are being sold at Tk 80 per hali ( 4 pieces), and domestic chicken eggs are being sold at Tk60-65 per hali.</div><div><br></div><div>A week ago the farm eggs were sold at Tk105 per dozen in the first week of the current month, while domestic chicken eggs sold at Tk 55-60 per hali, and duck eggs at Tk60-65 per hali.</div><div><br></div><div>The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), responsible for consumer market monitoring, has acknowledged the price hike of all kinds of eggs.</div><div><br></div><div>The market monitoring cell of TCB reports that the egg price increased by Tk 8 to 10 per hali so far in January, compared with the price beginning of this month.</div><div><br></div><div>Bangladesh Egg Producers Association president Taher Ahmed Siddiqi told UNB that the demand for eggs usually increases in winter, while production has become stagnant.</div><div><br></div><div>Many farms were forced to shut their operations during the pandemic-induced lockdown, and are still closed due to the higher cost of production, and lower prices of eggs.</div><div><br></div><div>Production costs have risen by 70-80 percent in one and a half years amid a tectonic surge in feed prices, discouraging many to do trading amid the risk of losses.</div><div><br></div><div>Consumers Association of Bangladesh vice-president SM Nazer Hossain said consumers in Bangladesh are passing a hard time amid record price up of commodities for higher inflation, reports UNB.</div><div><br></div><div>Farm egg, broiler chicken, and cultured fish are key protein sources for millions of poor in the country, he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Prices of all such products have increased forcing a vast population to cut their protein and other nutrition-rich food intake, he added.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>