World meat industry news

Poultry meat is the most popular in Russia. Its share in the total volume of human consumption is 44.3%, each Russian annually accounts for almost 35 kg of such meat, Alexei Khizhnyak, a member of the Moscow Business Russia, an expert on state support for industry and entrepreneurship, told.

He noted that in 2022, all agricultural enterprises in the country produced 6.5 million tons of poultry, which is almost 5% more than a year earlier. In the current year, a positive trend is also maintained, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

“The cost of poultry meat is growing due to the rise in the cost of feed additive components, such as soybean meal, as well as equipment and consumables. As a result, producers are forced to raise prices so that the operating margin allows them to continue working. The profitability of poultry farmers is quite low: it still does not go beyond 5-8%,” Khizhnyak said.

In addition, according to him, problems with cargo transportation and expensive fuels and lubricants, primarily gasoline, increase logistics costs, which also affects the price.

“However, year by year we have to compare prices taking into account inflation, and if inflation is discounted, it turns out that the price has not risen so much. In addition, the ruble has recently depreciated significantly against world currencies,” Khizhnyak said.

Also, the observed price increase in 2023 may be due to a number of industry-specific reasons, the expert added.

“So, first of all, it’s bird flu. In the first half of 2023, 55 outbreaks of this disease were recorded in 24 regions. Accordingly, due to bird flu, the market could have a shortage of chicken meat. Although, according to Rosstat, a decrease in meat production was recorded only in the last month, in June, but in general, an increase of almost 2% was noted over the six months,” Khizhnyak concluded.

Earlier it became known that the price of chicken meat in the Russian Federation set a historical record - 196.93 rubles per 1 kg. Independent experts say that the increase in prices in retail chains is even greater - an average of 270 rubles per kg.