Iran's egg industry is being squeezed by a sharp fall in exports, leaving farmers selling eggs below production costs and piling up losses, according to a series of reports in the local press.
Producers warn that restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad amid the war with the US and Israel, intended to keep food inflation at bay, have instead turned an oversupplied domestic market into a serious threat to farms.
A 50% loss on sales
The scale of the crisis is stark. Egg producers are currently selling their output at around 200,000 tomans (US$1.45) per kg, while production costs have reached about 270,000 tomans (US$1.96/kg), Hamidreza Kashani, chairman of the Iran Mihan Poultry Farmers Union, told local news outlet Nabzgheymat.
That leaves farmers losing around 70,000 tomans (US$0.51) on every kg they produce. The union's proposed price for September was 271,000 tomans (US$1.97/kg), but Kashani said producers have not been able to sell at anything close to that level.
Market players estimate that the industry has been suffering losses for nearly 10 months.
Export restrictions blamed
Industry representatives point to the collapse in exports as a major reason for the domestic oversupply.
The Ministry of Agricultural Jihad banned egg exports in April amid the escalation of the conflict with the US and Israel, citing "emergency conditions". Exports were only conditionally authorised again in June, subject to quantity controls and ministry approval.
The main export markets were neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan, which have historically accounted for most of Iran's egg exports. In 2025, Iranian eggs were also shipped to Turkmenistan, Qatar, the UAE and other Persian Gulf markets, as well as several African countries, according to official information.
Lost markets
But the restrictions have come at a high cost for producers, Kashani said. Egg exports had previously been fully handled by the union and private companies for about 4 years, during which the industry had worked to build markets across neighbouring countries.
"During these years, we managed to turn Iran from an egg-importing country into an egg-exporting country," Kashani said, adding that Iranian producers had even been able to compete with Turkey in some regional markets.
That progress has now largely been lost. Kashani said that after the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad became involved in exports last year, shipments fell sharply, with 30,000–40,000 tonnes of export volume lost compared with the previous year.
Domestic oversupply
The result is a growing surplus at home. Egg production is expected to reach around 115,000 tonnes in September, roughly 15,000 tonnes above domestic demand, according to Kashani.
