World meat industry news

The Russian poultry industry has been developing rapidly during the last several years, leading to a significant increase in its poultry meat production and satisfaction of the country's domestic needs for this product.

The volume of production of poultry meat in Russia amounted to 4,087.4 thousand tons in slaughter weight (5,561.1 thousand tons in live weight) for the period of January to November 2017. Industrial production increased by 8.0 percent as compared to the same period last year. The volume of poultry meat imports increased by 7.8 percent compared to the same period in 2016 and amounted to 92.6 thousand tons for the period from January to November 2017. Brazil remains the leading poultry supplier, and accounts for 84.1 percent of all supplies. Argentina is second in terms of the volume of imported products (14.9 percent). Import of chicken meat to Russia from the countries outside the former Soviet Union increased by 10.0 percent (+1.3 thousand tons) compared to 2016, and amounted to 91.4 thousand tons. Imports of turkey meat decreased by 58.8 percent (-1.6 thousand tons) to 1.1 thousand tons, and duck meat imports decreased by 29.5 percent (-0.007 thousand tons) to 0.02 thousand tons.

During the period from January to November 2017, poultry exports from Russia to countries outside the Eurasian Customs Union increased by 54.5 percent compared to the same period in 2016 and amounted to 101.4 thousand tons, Ukraine accounts for 44.9 percent of poultry exports (Donetsk and Lugansk regions) and Vietnam for 41.3 percent.

The volume of exports from Russia to the Eurasian Customs Union amounted to 125.8 thousand tons for the period from January to November 2017, Republic of Kazakhstan accounts for 19.4 percent (24.4 thousand tons). The volume of exports increased by 43.5 percent (+38.1 thousand tons) during the year.

In Russia, domestic prices for chicken meat decreased by 1.0 percent during December 2017 compared to the previous month. Chicken cuttings and by-products became cheaper by 0.8 percent as compared to the previous month, according to the EMEAT report.

Wholesale prices for imported chicken meat increased by 1.0 percent in December 2017, and by 0.7 percent during the year.

As of December 25, 2017, the general price level for turkey meat produced in Russia increased by 0.8 percent during the month. Cuttings prices fell by 0.3 percent in December, the turkey carcass prices increased by 4.6 percent. Prices for imported turkey meat decreased by 0.1 percent in December 2017, but increased by 4.4 percent during 2017 due to domestic demand for turkey meat in Russia.

Despite such success of Russian poultry farmers, in the near future they can face serious issues - the crisis of overproduction and the decline of real incomes and purchasing power of the population. Further increase in poultry meat production is therefore necessary only with the increase in exports and expansion into new markets.