World meat industry news

MHP, a leading agro-industrial company in Ukraine, announced that its poultry stocks at the end of the third quarter of 2017 are the lowest historically as a percent of monthly production volume.

The company announced that at the beginning of the third quarter of this year its poultry stocks were down to 21,000 t compared to the beginning of the third quarter from 2016 when they reached 46,300 t. This resulted in a 13% decrease in poultry sales volumes in Q3 2017 compared to Q3 2016.

Furthermore, the company's poultry production volumes in the third quarter of this year remained relatively stable and were situated at 137,005 t (Q3 2016: 139,740 t). The poultry production for the first nine months of 2017 was also relatively stable, reaching 424,700 t (9M 2016:426,085 t).

The company announced also that the volume of chicken meat exports totaled 52,990 t in the third quarter of 2017, down by 8% compared to the similar period from 2016 due to significantly higher sales of stocks during the period last year.

Regarding the first nine months of 2017, poultry exports saw an increase of 23% compared to the same period from the previous year and reached 176,015 t, following the strategy of poultry stocks decrease and driven by significant exports in the second quarter of 2017.

The company also reported that the Dutch and Slovakian processing plants and sales/distribution office in the UAE have been performing in accordance with expectations and their business plans.

Regarding prices, in the third quarter of this year, the average chicken meat price (domestic/export) was €1.21 per kilogram of natural weight (excluding VAT), with an annual increase of 30% and a rise of 15% compared to the second quarter of 2017. In the first nine months of 2017, the average chicken meat price was €1.09, up by 23% compared to the similar period from the previous year.

The company reported an increase of 5% in sausage and cooked meat sales volumes in the third quarter of 2017, reaching 9,920 t. Whereas in the first nine months of 2017 sausage and cooked meat sales volumes increased by 10% to 27,170 t as a result of a product promotion strategy and advertisement campaign both for the product range and for the brand.

Average sausage and cooked meat prices during the third quarter of 2017 increased by 16% to €1.60 per kilogram excluding VAT. In 9M 2017 the average price increased by 12% to €1.50) per kilogram excluding VAT.