World meat industry news

Russian companies continue to develop export sales. This year, according to the NSP, the export of poultry products will not be lower than last year's figure - at the level of 200 thousand tons.

But director General of the National Union of Poultry Breeders (NSP) Sergey Lakhtyukhov considers it to be premature to make forecasts for the next year. “A lot will depend on the opening of markets in Japan, Singapore and other areas important for the industry, as well as on interaction with our closest neighbors,” he explains. Earlier this week, Rosselkhoznadzor reported that Hong Kong allowed the supply of poultry meat and offal from all over Russia.

Now 20 companies have the right to export there. Lakhtyukhov considers the opening of the Hong Kong market a positive factor, but draws attention to the fact that Hong Kong was, in fact, a bridge to China, and the Chinese direction is now much more interesting, while imports from Hong Kong are falling. Executive Director of Rincon Management Konstantin Korneev agrees that the opening of this market will not greatly affect the export potential of our country. “This is, rather, a transit point of supply, an additional window of opportunity for distribution,” he said.

The key to the Russian meat industry will be the opening of meat market in China. “If this happens, then significant volumes of pork and poultry will be shipped there,” Korneev said. However, since the shortage of meat in China amid the spread of African swine fever is greater than Russia can produce, the issue of the distribution of products between domestic and foreign markets will become important. “For poultry it is about 500-600 thousand tons, for pork - 350-500 thousand tons per year,” the expert estimates. Such volumes of supply will not make our exports dramatic for the state of the domestic market. If the volume of export shipments from Russia increases sharply, then the cost of meat inside the country will increase by at least 10% only in the initial phase of supply, and in the future, possibly more, since prices inside the country will tend to parity with external ones.”

And although for producers the increase in selling prices is a positive factor, for a population whose incomes are not growing, it is quite negative news», adds Korneev.