January 16, 2008

Russia imports US$500 million more meat in 2007

Strong meat demand in Russia drove the value of imports from US$2.5 billion to US$3 billion last year, the Federal Customs Service said.

Imports of fresh and frozen meat to Russia grew by 11.8 percent, to 1.24 million tonnes, in the first 11 months of 2007.

More than 95 percent of the meat was bought from countries outside the CIS.

As a result of strong development in Russia's own poultry industry, poultry imports fell 0.3 percent to 1.13 million tonnes after years of strong growth.

However, the value of poultry imports during the period totaled US$908 million, almost US$100 million more than the same period in 2006 as prices for chicken rose worldwide. 

Fish imports rose 25.8 percent by volume to 742,100 tonnes and 41 percent by value to US$1.2 billion.