World meat industry news

In 2021, 223 thousand tons of fresh and frozen meat were imported to Russia, which is 17.2% less than a year earlier. Such data were published on February 7, 2022 in the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of the Russian Federation.

The volume of meat import into Russia from abroad in monetary terms by the end of 2021 fell by 6.3% and amounted to $893 million. Imports of fresh and frozen poultry meat in 2021 increased by 5.8% compared to the previous year and reached 242.2 thousand tons, while in dollars the indicator increased by 28.6% to $411.6 million.

 According to the results of 2021, imports of fresh and frozen fish grew by 9.9% in kind - to 433.6 thousand tons, and in value terms, growth amounted to 18.8%, to $1.33 billion.

One of the reasons for the reduction in meat imports is the import substitution program for these products. Since 2014, when this program was launched, by 2020, meat imports decreased by about 65%, which is consistent with the plans of the authorities.

At the same time, many Russian restaurants in 2021 complained about the shortage of meat in the domestic market. The shortage of steaks was led by an increase in the export of marble beef, insufficient competition among local producers and restrictions on imports from abroad, Interfax reports citing Sergey Mironov, vice president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers (FRiO) of Russia.

According to Mironov, also the owner of the Meat & Fish restaurant chain, the lack of competition in the production of marble beef was not so noticeable until Russia limited the supply of meat from Australia, Argentina and the United States.