World meat industry news

Cattle meat production declined in all regions of the Russian Federation. According to the Director General of the National Union of Beef Producers (NSPG) Roman Kostyuk, a precrisis situation has developed in this sector of the agro-industrial complex.

In Siberia beef production in the commodity sector decreased by more than 10%. Some slaughterhouses stopped working due to the lack of cattle. The index of industrial supply of beef, calculated by Cherkizovo analysts, indicates that over the three quarters of 2019, it decreased by 4% year on year.

The conclusion about the pre-crisis situation in the beef production sector was called into question by the head of the executive committee of the National Meat Association (NMA) Sergey Yushin. According to the NMA, the volume of cattle meat production in comparison with 2018 did not decrease, but even slightly increased due to the development of beef cattle breeding.

According to Rosstat, in January-September 2019, the production of cattle for slaughter amounted to 1.7 million tons, which is 1.3% more than last year. Sergei Yushin does not exclude the possibility that by the beginning of 2020, beef production will increase by 1%. Analysts attribute the shortage of beef in the Russian market to another important trend - a reduction in meat imports, confirmed by the Federal Customs Service.

According to the FCS, in the period from January to August this year, Russia imported 49 thousand tons of chilled beef - 27.6% less than in the eight months of 2018. At the same time, the volume of purchases of frozen beef abroad decreased by 4.5% and amounted to 146.2 thousand tons. In September, 60.1 thousand tons of beef came to Russia, 1.5% less than in September last year.