US egg imports hit highest level since 2015
July surge led by Lithuania, Brazil as exports also climb
13 October 2025
1 minute read
By: US egg and egg product imports totalled 20.2 million shell-egg dozen-equivalent in July, the most imported in a single month since 2015, according to the US Department of Agriculture's Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook for September.
July imports consisted of 11.2 million dozen shell eggs and 9.0 million dozen-equivalent in egg products. The egg product imports, the largest monthly total since 2016, came primarily from Lithuania, which shipped 7.3 million dozen-equivalent.
The shell-egg imports, on the other hand, came primarily from Brazil, which shipped 5.0 million dozen, and Mexico which shipped 2.8 million dozen. Since imported eggs are nearly exclusively for the U.S. broken-egg market, the breaking-egg price rather than the shell-egg price drives shell-egg imports.
The average price for breaking eggs in August was 146.9 cents per dozen, down 38.4 cents month over month. Daily breaking egg prices have held steady at 139.75 cents per dozen into early September.
For the third quarter, projected imports were adjusted up to 40 million dozen-equivalent, reflecting the bump in egg product shipments from Lithuania. However, based on the expectation that lower breaking-egg prices will reduce incentives to ship eggs from Lithuania and Brazil, the fourth-quarter import projection is unchanged at 25 million dozen-equivalent.
As a result, the new 2025 import projection is 139 million dozen-equivalent. For the same reasons, the 2026 egg and egg product import projection is unchanged at 70 million dozen-equivalent.
Egg and egg product exports totaled 17.6 million shell-egg dozen-equivalent in July 2025, up by just under a million dozen-equivalent compared to July of 2024. July exports consisted of 8.5 million dozen shell eggs and 9.1 million dozen-equivalent in egg products.
The largest destinations were Canada (6.2 million dozen-equivalent) and Mexico (3.6 million dozen- equivalent), which together accounted for 56% of July egg and egg product exports. Projected exports in 2025 are adjusted 10 million dozen-equivalent higher to 197 million dozen- equivalent. For 2026, projected exports are adjusted up to 235 million dozen-equivalent.
