World meat industry news

Annual inflation in Russia in the week from December 6 to 12 accelerated to 12.6% against 12.5% a week earlier, according to a review of the Ministry of Economic Development on the current price situation. In the segment of food products, price growth slowed down due to a slowdown in the growth in prices for fruits and vegetables. For other food products, deflation remained at the level of the previous week, the review says.

Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the HSE Center for Market Research, said that in fact there is no acceleration in inflation yet - there is a natural inflation trend in the region of 12%. The expert recalled that in March-April, Russian regulators, including the Central Bank, gave forecasts for inflation at the level of 20-23%, so its current level is approximately close to the world one.

“Under today's conditions, the slowdown in the inflation rate, which was observed in summer and autumn, can be regarded as a positive signal. At the end of the year, the indicator accelerates in all countries, because there is an import of fruits and vegetables, which has a large weight in inflation. In addition, soon the New Year holidays, there will be an increase in spending by the population, the prices of goods began to rise. In January, people will spend much less, and inflation will start to decline a little, ”Ostapkovich believes. Considering that in 2022 the inflation base was quite high, in 2023 there will be a noticeable slowdown in inflation - in the region of 6.5-7% at the end of the year, the expert predicts. In 2024, the Central Bank plans to reach a target of 4%.

The increase in prices for fruits and vegetables for the week from December 6 to 12 averaged 2.7%, including cucumbers - 8.2%, beets - 2.8%, carrots - 2.3%, onions - 1, 7%, cabbage and apples - 1.6%, tomatoes - 1.3%, potatoes - 1.1%, bananas - 0.5%, follows from Rosstat data.

On the eve of the head of the Ministry of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev, speaking at the government hour in the State Duma, said that the affordability of food in Russia is now relatively stable, the growth rate of food prices in our country is below the world. According to him, the Ministry of Agriculture continues to monitor prices together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Economic Development. “If necessary, we will take additional measures,” the minister assured.

Meanwhile, Kommersant, citing Infoline data, said that large grocery retailers in the third quarter of 2022 faced a slowdown in revenue growth compared to the second quarter. Sales grew fastest at discounters and alcohol stores. Overall, in the nine months of 2022, retailer revenue growth accelerated to 24.8%. In the third quarter of 2022, the total turnover of the ten largest chains selling food and consumer goods (FMCG) reached 1.97 trillion rubles. excluding VAT, which is 17.9% more than in the second quarter, and 20% year-on-year. These figures are 5 percentage points lower than in the second quarter.