World meat industry news

Increased wholesale prices for chicken and pork are a short-term phenomenon; the market will soon stabilize and prices will return to normal. This opinion was voiced by the director of the commerce and marketing division of the Sibagro group of companies (the second pork producer in the country based on the results of 2022) Petr Mizonov.

The pork market is closely related to the poultry market. According to Mizonov, the rising cost of chicken forced processors to pay attention to pork, whose wholesale prices, against the backdrop of increased production, were lower than a year earlier. However, the demand for pork has increased not only in the domestic but also in the foreign market: this year the volume of its exports increased by 60%, Mizonov said. At the same time, due to the long production cycle, as well as a slight decrease in the number of livestock amid outbreaks of African swine fever, it is impossible to quickly increase the required volume of pork production, he noted.

According to Rosstat, the production of pigs for slaughter in agricultural organizations over the eight months of this year increased by 5.9% to 3.64 million tons in live weight. Poultry production over the same period increased by 0.7% to 4.3 million tons in live weight, while in August it decreased by 3.5% compared to August last year.

During the week of September 26 to October 2, average retail prices for chicken increased by 1%. In 66 regions they increased in the range of 0.1-3.2%, in nine they did not change, in 10 regions Rosstat recorded a decrease of 0.2-3.1%. At the same time, compared to December, chicken became more expensive by 24.4%. Over the past week, pork prices fell by 0.02%; compared to December, the average retail price increased by 9.84%.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) previously announced that it had sent Cherkizovo, GAP Resurs and Prioskolye - the country's largest producers of broiler meat - requests to analyze the validity of the established prices for chicken meat. At the beginning of August, Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev said that the increase in the cost of meat is seasonal, and prices will decrease in the fall. At a recent meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture, poultry companies noted that prices are expected to decrease in the near future, this will be facilitated by increased production and a reduction in seasonal demand.

The head of the National Meat Association, Sergei Yushin, previously told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the expansion of poultry meat production is hampered by a shortage of workers in the industry. In addition, an unfavorable epizootic situation has developed, and costs for producers are also rising, including for logistics and equipment.

At the end of September, NTech analysts predicted that in the coming months, wholesale pork would become cheaper, but by December the price would rise again, recouping about half of the fall. As for chicken meat, according to analysts, it will continue to rise in price, reaching levels prohibitive for use in meat processing by the end of the year.