World meat industry news

Russia in 2022 increased the export of poultry meat by 1.5 times, China retained its position as the largest importer, follows from the materials of the Federal Center for the Development of Exports of Agro-Industrial Complex Products (FGBU Agroexport) under the Ministry of Agriculture.

"In 2022, Russian poultry meat exports continued the positive dynamics of recent years, increasing by another 16% in physical terms and by 51% in monetary terms ... As in the previous year, China retained its position as the largest buyer, which, according to updated data, accounted for 39% of the total physical volume of Russian poultry meat exports last year (41% in 2021). Poultry meat from Russia to China was delivered last year to 139,000 tons, which is 11% more than in 2021,” the center’s materials say.

The second buyer of Russian poultry meat is Saudi Arabia, which increased the volume of purchases by 59%. Also in the top 3 importers is Kazakhstan with an increase in supplies by 42%; more than tripled shipments to the UAE, more than doubled to Belarus, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Ghana and Angola.

In the structure of poultry meat exports, more than 90% still falls on domestic chickens, but supplies of products of other types of birds are also developing. For example, exports of turkey meat increased by 19% in physical terms, and duck meat more than doubled. In total, more than 26,000 tons of turkey meat were exported in 2022, which is about 7% of all poultry meat supplies from Russia, said Anatoly Velmatov, executive director of the National Association of Turkey Producers.

Russia has every prospect of increasing shipments of poultry meat to foreign markets, according to the materials of the center. Director General of the National Union of Poultry Breeders Sergey Lakhtyukhov suggests that if the sanctions pressure does not increase, export growth will continue in 2023. This will be facilitated by the overall growth in the production of meat in general and poultry meat in particular, the improvement of the competitive position of Russia, the building of new logistics chains, and an increase in the production volume of export-oriented companies.

Turkey growers also expect positive dynamics to continue: according to Velmatov, among the main prerequisites are the growth in global consumption of turkey meat as relatively inexpensive, a decrease in exports from the United States and Western Europe due to a worsening epizootic situation, an increase in the competitiveness of Russian turkey meat, as well as a depreciation ruble.