Brazil is doubling the amount of eggs it exports as the U.S. tackles shortages caused by bird flu.
The ABPA, a Brazilian industry group that represents egg and meat exporters, said it will be doubling international egg shipments, shipping out up to 35,000 tons in 2025, according to Bloomberg. Last year, it exported about 18,000 tons of eggs, and the new number is already 67% more than it forecast in December.
“We have made the revision considering January exports and the demand reported by exporting companies,” ABPA President Ricardo Santin said. “It was mainly due to the U.S. purchases that started at the beginning of the year.”
The U.S. only recently began to allow Brazilian eggs to be imported for human consumption, previously reserving them for pet food. Still, ABPA said U.S. consumers can’t directly buy Brazilian eggs, but they can secure them via American third-party companies.
The news comes as the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a February report that it projects that prices will rise 41.1% this year amid a surge in bird blu cases affecting egg-laying hens nationwide.
Tens of millions of chickens have already been killed by the virus, which is majorly interrupting the supply.
Last week, the Justice Department announced it was opening an investigation into rising egg prices and will look into whether there is any price fixing happening. President Trump said on the campaign trail he would bring down grocery prices, including the cost of a dozen eggs, but little progress has occurred. Egg prices hit a record-high in February and are only expected to increase.