World meat industry news

In the coming year, the National Union of Pig Breeders (NSS) expects an increase in pork production by at least 5%. This will guarantee stagnation, and, possibly, a further decline in prices for this type of meat, said Yury Kovalev, General Director of the NSS. “But we really hope that the price environment for grains and meals that developed last year will continue in 2023,” he adds.

According to Kovalev, last year the main event for pig production was the decline in grain prices in the second half of the year — due to the huge harvest, reduced exports and a stable ruble, it fell by a third compared to the first half of 2022. “This stopped the growth in the cost of pork production, which was observed in the first half of 2022, and made it possible to maintain the profitability of the pig industry against the backdrop of a decrease in wholesale prices for pork,” the head of the union notes.

According to him, it was the increase in production costs in the first half of 2022 that became the most serious challenge for the industry. “It has grown from month to month due to the disruption of supply chains, the increase in the dollar and the cost of logistics. Nevertheless, the business was able to solve all the logistical problems,” says Kovalev.

The biggest achievement of pig breeders last year was the increase in consumption - by 8% according to NSS calculations. While prices for poultry and beef have risen, they have even declined for pork relative to 2021. “As a result, the additional volume of pork that was produced by our enterprises left the market - in the industrial sector it amounted to about plus 7.5%,” the expert comments. “The increase in consumption balanced the market, so pork prices fell by only 5-7% at the end of the year, and not by 10-15%, as they could if consumption had stagnated or decreased.” Pork last year turned out to be one of the most affordable types of meat, the head of the NSS emphasizes. Also, the growth of consumption was positively affected by government programs to support the poor.

At the same time, there were significant delays in exports in the first half of 2022. “We really hope that this year the developments that have developed in the past in new areas of logistics will work, and the export of pig products by the end of 2023 will be at least 200 thousand tons,” concludes Kovalev.