World meat industry news

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to take personal control over the issue of ensuring the financial results of companies operating in the agro-industrial complex. He also demanded not to export all agricultural products produced in the country, since the country needs its own reserves.

He cited the situation with weather conditions in other countries as an example. So, in Japan the weather is warm, and in Turkmenistan - minus 25 degrees, in Uzbekistan - minus 23 degrees. “What are we going to do here? We can't tell for sure either. Therefore, we definitely need stable reserves. It is imperative, and we must preserve it,” the President emphasized.

Putin noted that the situation with the production of agricultural products in Russia is now good. This, according to him, was helped by a number of decisions made earlier. “You have to stick to it. We must, of course, let this sector earn money, make a profit so that they can invest in the result of the 2023 harvest, in processing, in animal husbandry,” the president said.

Meanwhile, in July-November 2022, Russia supplied 6.1 million tons of grain to African countries, including 5.7 million tons of wheat. This was reported to "Interfax" in the Association for Economic Cooperation with African Countries (AESSA). Last agricultural year, Russian exports to Africa reached 10.9 million tons of grain, of which 10.2 million tons were wheat. The biggest buyers were Egypt, Sudan and Algeria.

According to the association's forecast, deliveries this season may be less than last. In their opinion, they will amount to less than 10 million tons. This is due to the fact that the logistics and payment system that existed until 2022 were violated by anti-Russian sanctions, in fact, suppliers were forced to reorganize on the go, and this process has not yet been completed, the AECCA explained.

They recalled that the disconnection of the industry’s base bank, Rosselkhozbank, from the SWIFT system led to the fact that payments by African buyers of grain in dollars and euros in favor of Russian suppliers were blocked or frozen by European and American correspondent banks. At the same time, significant amounts not only did not reach Russian sellers, but were not returned to buyers either. As a result, ship owners have problems with insurance of ships calling at Russian ports.

At the end, the INFOLine agency reported that in 2022, even in the context of non-tariff regulation measures applied by the state (duties and quotas), the imposition of sanctions and a difficult geopolitical situation, breaks in supply chains, about 46% of suppliers reported plans to increase export supplies. According to Eurostat, in the first nine months of 2022, the export of food and animals to the EU countries from Russia in monetary terms increased by 33.5% to 1.5 billion euros, in physical terms, the growth was 10.2%. The share of EU countries in 2021 accounted for 12% of Russian agricultural exports. In general, according to the results of the year, INFOLine expected an increase in exports of agricultural raw materials and foodstuffs by 15-20%.