World meat industry news

Exports of Russian agro-industrial products in 2022 increased by 12% compared to 2021. Comparable growth is possible this year, despite the suspension of supplies to unfriendly countries. Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko said this in an interview with RIA Novosti at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. According to her, the closure of trade relations with unfriendly countries did not stop the export of agricultural products, on the contrary, supplies increased both in monetary and physical terms.

The Deputy Prime Minister also said that this year Russia has signed more than 750 export contracts totaling 1.5 million tons of grain, oil and sugar in national currencies. Most transactions were with Iran, Syria, Egypt and the CIS countries. She noted that grain shipments with settlements in national currencies are a priority, and their volume is growing. Abramchenko noted that Russia is also negotiating with other states on the supply of agricultural products in national currencies.

In total, Russia exports agricultural products to 160 countries. Including dairy products, including ice cream, are supplied to 60 countries, said the Deputy Prime Minister. She clarified that 90% of these supplies go to the CIS, but Russia has the potential to export to other regions. Abramchenko believes that in order to expand supplies to new regions, it is necessary to stimulate the production of milk powder and fully subsidize logistics costs. She also noted the potential for the supply of halal dairy products to the countries of the MENA region and stressed that Russian companies already have significant experience working with this category.

Alexander Korbut, an independent grain market expert, believes that Abramchenko's forecasts for the export of agricultural products are too optimistic. According to him, the increase will be 5-6%. This is due to lower prices on the world market compared to last year. The main commodities in the export structure will be cereals, fish, vegetable oils and poultry meat, the expert said.

A positive factor for the increase in fish exports was the opening of the Chinese market, Korbut noted. The situation on the export market of vegetable oils is not easy due to low world prices. According to the expert, they have not yet fallen to a historic low over the past 10 years, but are close to it. “Poultry meat will be exported quite well, including against the backdrop of the problems that exist in the world with bird flu. It will be difficult with pork, but there will also be exports,” Korbut believes.

In his opinion, the geography of deliveries this year will not change much. “Export to unfriendly countries, if you remove the fish, the main volumes of which went to South Korea, Japan, Norway, will remain traditional. I think Europe will buy our meal, as before, although competition with Ukraine will intensify,” Korbut concluded.