February 23, 2010
Russian self-sufficiency policy pushes up meat prices
As Russia aims for self-sufficiency, poultry meat and pork producers are happy that prices are rising steeply on the market, according to a new report.
With the desire for security so integral to the Russian soul, it is no surprise that the country is currently aiming for self-sufficiency in a number of agricultural sectors.
In April 2009, First Deputy Prime Minister, Viktor Zubkov, declared that the country would be fully self-sufficient in both meats by 2011. While it is not expected that Russia will achieve this goal in either commodity so soon, the report forecasts sizeable gains in production of pork and a dramatic rise in poultry output.
One way in which Russia appears to be moving towards its self-sufficiency target is through trade barriers. A spat of sizeable proportions has erupted following a Russian ban on imports of US poultry.
On the surface, the Russians have actually banned imports of poultry disinfected with substantial quantities of chlorine. But the regulation is a de facto ban on imports of US poultry, since using heavily chlorinated washes is standard practice for US producers. Russia has also banned pork imports from all but six US facilities for similar reasons.
New USDA figures put 2009 poultry production at 1.79 million tonnes, down slightly from Q1 2010 figure of 1.81 million tonnes. According to statistics, production for 2010 is forecast to reach 2.10 million tonnes, growing 11.8% year-on-year.
The ban on US poultry imports - which, in 2008, were worth US$800 million - will push up prices and help Russian producers, expand. Between 2009 and 2014, production is forecast to rise by 94.5% from 1.79 million tonnes to 3.48 million.
Latest USDA figures put Russian pork production at 2.21 million tonnes in 2009. In 2010, the report expects to see modest growth of 1.5%, with production reaching 2.24 million tonnes. Over the forecast period to 2014, pork production is seen to show reasonable growth of 14.54% to reach 2.53 million tonnes.
