World meat industry news

Meat production in Russia is growing, and this trend will continue until 2024 - as well as an increase in meat exports. Russian meat producers are exploring new global markets. How will it affect the domestic market in Russia?

According to Rosstat, in 2018, 10.6 million tons of meat were produced in Russia - the maximum volume in the foreseeable history of the country. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the number of livestock since the beginning of this year has grown by 8%. According to official forecasts,  livestock production will grow by another 1.8%by the beginning of 2020, and by 2024 the growth will reach 12%.

The highest growth rate of meat production is observed in pig farming. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, last year Russia produced 3.7 million tons of pork, and the country entered the TOP-7 world producers of this type of meat.

Beef and poultry production is not growing so fast. In 2017-2018, cattle meat production increased by almost 40 thousand tons (up to 1.6 million tons). Poultry meat production is approximately 5 million tons per year.

As meat production grows, its import decreases. Last year foreign exporters delivered 800 thousand tons of goods of this category to Russia, but in five years, according to the plans of the Ministry of Agriculture, the volume of meat imports should be reduced to 700 thousand tons. At the same time, meat exports from Russia should grow to 1.2 million tons.

According to the director of the SovEcon analytical center Andrei Sizov, it is necessary to increase exports: the domestic meat market has reached saturation. To increase supply, it is necessary to reduce the cost of production and increase competitiveness.

So far, an increase in meat production against the background of a decline in real incomes does not create the prerequisites for rising prices, the expert said. In the current situation with meat prices, the cost of its production will decrease, and here companies with a high level of integration will benefit.