January 19, 2010

Russian poultry prices soar amid embargo on US imports

Wholesale poultry prices are up 20% in Russia since the start of January, when new restrictions on chlorinated water in processing effectively blocked US imports.

Yevgeny Kogan, chairman of the Food Trade Group, said that prices rose from RUB58 (US$1.96) per kilogramme at the end of December to RUB70 (US$2.37) in mid-January.

At the same time, domestic poultry prices have risen 15%, Kogan said.

Poultry used to be the cheapest protein in Russia, consumed mostly by low-income individuals and any price increase could be harmful for sales volume, he added.

Putin has said that wholesalers are contributing to a price panic.

Until January, US imports made up about 22% of Russia's poultry supply and Russia had been the largest export market for US poultry. The Russian government has slashed the US import quota from 750,000 tonnes in 2009 to 600,000 tonnes in 2010.

Russia hopes to increase its poultry production so that imports can be ended by 2015.