World meat industry news

 The Russian Agricultural Ministry has published a draft decree under which poultry and egg exports from the country will be banned for the next 6 months in order to bring price relief to the domestic market.

The measure was rolled out shortly following a government meeting where Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the economic rationale behind a 27% rise in retail poultry prices in the country in the past few months.

In an explanatory note to the decree, the Ministry stated that the price hikes were primarily associated with a drop in production performance in the last several months and a rise in production costs in the background of the weak Russian rouble’s exchange rate.

Russian independent analysts attributed price turbulence in the poultry market primarily to a series of avian affluenza outbreaks registered in the country this year.

“The current situation contributes to the excessive attractiveness of the export of these products [poultry and eggs] compared to supplies to the domestic market, which creates a threat to the food security of Russia,” the Ministry said.