In Mexico, and in the world, economic phenomena from other times continue to be recorded. Generations of Mexicans did not know what high inflation was and they already know it; They also did not know what rates were higher than 6 or a maximum of 7 percent, much less what double-digit interest rates were.
Although the increase in salaries in this administration has been important, at least this year, the rise in inflation has eaten up a large part of the salary increase.
In this context, Mexican consumers are beginning to know what a hyperinflationary phenomenon is, although not in a general way in the country and in all products, but in a region and product.
The price of the egg has gotten out of control, perhaps the phenomenon will not last long, or it will not cover the entire country, but it is a fact that there is already a phenomenon of hyperinflation in this product and in some regions of Mexico.
Egg price hyperinflation
So far this year, the price of eggs has increased on average up to 40 percent, trading in some regions of the country on an average of 58 pesos per kilo. It was already an outrageous rise for its notoriety, far exceeding the central bank’s overall price target.
What we have seen in recent days and hours is even more scandalous, according to various national and local media reports regarding the price of eggs.
According to the reports, the price of eggs already exceeds 100 pesos per kilo in some parts of the country, approaching the price of red and white meats; an essential product in the diet of Mexican homes has skyrocketed in the midst of the agreement to contain inflation.
This price increase in the kilo of eggs is so important and considerable that we can already say that this product is experiencing a hyperinflationary phenomenon because it met the two essential requirements to classify it in such a way: grew disproportionately, and it did so in a short time.
The new generations can already say that they literally lived the same as their parents, in a certain clear sense; In Mexico, the hyperinflation of the eighties was widespread, but now it is registered for the first time in a product, something that, apparently, had already been overcome, is once again present.
According to various media reports, the price of the egg registers intense pressures in the northern border zone of our country and several kilometers further in.
For example, according to these reports in Tijuana, Baja California, a kilo of eggs costs 109 pesos, this price is 84.74 percent higher than that registered in February 2022 when a temporary inflationary process brought the price of the same product to 59 pesos per kilo.
According to these same reports, in Durango a kilo of eggs can be quoted at up to 80 pesos, the figure is 90.47 percent higher than what was quoted a year earlier.
In other parts of the country the pressures are beginning to be felt, although prices have not yet skyrocketed as in the north. For example, reports speak of an average price of 50 pesos per kilo of eggs from the center of the country to the southeast, this price represents, however, an average increase of 30 percent compared to what it cost a year before.
Hyper-eggflation could be temporary, considering the factors, especially one of them, that has caused this price rally.
However, there is also the risk that this phenomenon contaminates other products in the Mexican diet, even if to a lesser extent. It is important to remember that the egg is the basis for the preparation of various national dishes. and, in a special way, for another essential product on the table of the country’s homes: bread. Not to mention the variety of dairy products, many of them also require this product as a basic ingredient.
The factors behind the hyperinflationary surge in egg prices
Basically the main factor of the hyperinflationary impulse of the egg price in the last days is the risk of avian flu in the United States, in Mexico and in other parts of the world.
In our neighbor to the north, a highly contagious and deadly avian flu has wreaked havoc on the market due to a drop in the supply of this protein; but the costs of food and transportation for producers have also increased.
In this frame, The United States faces its biggest health crisis in poultry farms since 2015. In that year, around 50.5 million birds had to be slaughtered to control the disease, which can even be transmitted to humans, with high mortality rates. This year the outbreak of bird flu has forced the slaughter of 54.5 million birds and it is estimated that several million more could be slaughtered.
What place does Mexico occupy as a producer?
Mexico is a totally self-sufficient country in egg production. According to figures from the Ministry of Economy, the 99.5 percent of the country’s production is consumed right here. In addition, Mexico is the fourth largest egg producer in the world.
The rise in prices in the United States should not put pressure on Mexico, considering its self-sufficiency, although it makes sense that the hyperinflation of recent days in this product has been registered in the north of the country, not so much because of the demand for eggs from the neighboring country (theoretically, eggs cannot be exported to the United States precisely because of phytosanitary barriers), but because, as we know, viruses do not recognize borders and although avian flu has been successfully controlled so far in Mexicothere is no guarantee that this will always happen.
The times we live in are increasingly complex and remind us that history is also cyclical. No one in their right mind thought that we would see a hyperinflationary phenomenon, and we have seen it in the price of the egg: its price increased disproportionately and it did so in a very short time, hopefully it is not the prelude to other similar events.
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