World meat industry news

Prices for chicken meat have decreased slightly by 0.2 percent during April 2018, and decreased by 5.6 percent as compared to the same period of last year. According to the Information-Analytical Agency EMEAT, imported chicken meat in Russia fell in price by 0.9 percent in April 2018, and became cheaper by 3.9 percent during a year.

Purchasing and consumer prices for chicken meat began to decrease at the end of 2016 due to the active production growth and, consequently, the saturation of the Russian market.

According to EMEAT, poultry production volume in Russia amounted to 1,192.100 tons in slaughter weight (1,622.0 tons in live weight) for the period from January to March 2018, which is 4.0 percent (by 46.4 thousand tons in slaughter weight) more than the same period in 2017.

This slight increase is mainly associated with enterprises focused on export shipments to the Middle East. Offal exported to the Asian market and products exported to the countries of The Eurasian Customs Union (EACU) account for a significant share of total exports. It is yet too early to talk about a substantial increase in production volume for export.

It is worth mentioning that the production growth of chicken meat in Russia seriously exceeds the growth of demand for this product. The frequency of using chicken meat in the production of sausages cannot compensate for the slow growth in consumption of chicken meat in retail, which by the end of 2018 will grow only by 0.6 percent - up to 33.7 kg per capita. Therefore, further production growth of chicken meat in Russia may lead to an even more significant drop in prices for chicken meat, which will negatively affect the profitability of producers.

As for turkey meat, there is no need to discuss the oversaturation of the market yet. Although, due to the annual increase in production by 26-30 percent, the volume of turkey meat production in Russia in 2018 may reach more than 340 thousand tons.

As of 30 April 2018, the average price for Russian turkey meat increased by 0.5 percent during a month, however decreased by 5.3 percent during a year. Imported turkey meat increased in price by 0.3 percent during April 2018. Imported turkey meat prices decreased by 13.9 percent as compared to April 2017.