World meat industry news

In 1H 2020, Russia broke into the top three exporters of poultry to China. However, according to Cherkizovo Group experts, to maintain that position and develop exports further, it is necessary to strengthen sales channels and expand the range of products, including in the further processing segment.

Once the Chinese market opened to Russian poultry producers in 2019, they were able to take advantage of China's domestic deficit and gain a strong foothold among the poultry exporters. At the end of 2019, Russia was the fifth largest poultry exporter to China, and by the end of the first half of 2020 it moved up to the third place.

However, future performance of Russian companies may be undermined by the growth of domestic production in China and the return of other large suppliers (such as the US) to the Chinese market, as stated by Andrei Terekhin, Head of Exports at Trading Company Cherkizovo, during the online session Export of Russian Poultry Products to China: a Strategy for Success. Terekhin stressed that Russia's export potential is not limited to the supply of frozen raw meat (chicken feet, thighs, wings) – in the future, Russian supplies to China may include finished higher value added products.

Cherkizovo is ready to discuss the possibility of opening up the Chinese market for higher value added poultry products with federal agencies (the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), Ministry of Agriculture, Agroexport). The decision allowing such products access to the Chinese market requires a lot of work and may take a long time. According to the company's representative, this matter holds a lot of promise and importance for Russian poultry producers.

China is Cherkizovo’s key export market. In 2019, the Company shipped 14,000 t of poultry to China (over 40% of Cherkizovo’s total exports in this segment). This year, Cherkizovo plans to push this amount to over 50,000 t.