Israel-Iran war halts egg exports from Namakkal; losses estimated at Rs 5 five crore daily | Coimbatore News
Namakkal/Trichy: Egg exports from Namakkal have come to a halt amid the ongoing Israel-Iran war, with exporters estimating a total loss of around Rs 5 crore per day.Namakkal, one of India’s major egg production and trading centers, regularly supplies large quantities to foreign buyers. But the conflict in the Middle East has left exporters struggling to meet commitments and manage inventories.
Exporters said that exports to Gulf countries including UAE, Oman, Qatar are stopped. Dr PV Senthil, a Namakkal-based egg exporter and general secretary of the Livestock and Agriculture Farmers’ Trade Association, told TOI, “Seaport closures and airspace restrictions have disrupted normal cargo movement and blocked logistics routes.” He added that as transport channels are cut off, they cannot transport perishable products like eggs, from collection to packing and freight across the supply chain. Increases the risk of spoilage and compounding losses.Aishwarya Giri Rajkumar, CEO of Kaberi Bio Protein Private Limited, a table egg exporting company, said that at least 10 million eggs are being exported to various countries in the Middle East every day. “On March 1, a day after the start of the war, the entire egg export business stopped,” he said.The rate of table eggs in Namakkal has decreased drastically. The National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) egg price fixing committee on Tuesday fixed the price of eggs at Rs 4.30. A senior official of NECC said the demand for eggs has dropped after the state government stopped procuring eggs for the school lunch scheme with the commencement of annual examinations. He also said that a large amount of eggs have been stored in the poultry farm.K Selvaraj, a poultry farmer, alleged that egg traders were fishing in troubled waters. He said traders are asking poultry farmers to sell eggs at 80 paise less than the NECC rate. “Chicken farmers are forced to sell an egg at Rs 3.50 to avoid huge losses. The production cost of an egg is Rs 4.50,” he said.Exporters have urged the central government to intervene immediately. They urged the government to take up the matter through diplomatic channels with the US, Israel and Iran to facilitate safe passage of ships carrying essential goods.Export of damaged vegetablesThe Middle East conflict has affected Trichy’s vegetable and fruit exporters. Middle East flights from Trichy International Airport were canceled for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, with dozens of exporters from the region set to shift their shipments to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.On an average, Trichy Airport handles 600 MT of cargo per month, with an average of around 20 MT per day. Most exports, vegetables, fruits and flowers flow to Singapore, while a large portion of exporters equally focus on the Middle East region, mostly targeting the Indian diaspora with destinations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. “Exports to Singapore continue, but UAE-bound exports are affected, so are exports to European markets with Dubai as a transit. There is no other cost-effective option for us,” G Satish Kumar, secretary of Export Import Federation, Trichy, told TOI.
