Cherkizovo increases pork output by 79%

Cherkizovo Group, Russia's flagship pork and poultry producer, has increased pork production by 79% to 175,000 tonnes (in live weight) during the first quarter of 2010.

According to the company, this was mainly achieved thanks to its new pig complexes in Lipetsk and Tambov which have reached its full capacity. The company also said that sales of poultry meat in the first quarter increased by 6%, while meat - by 9%.

Sales in the company's meat processing division amounted to approximately 308,000 tonnes (against 284,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2009), due to growth in demand in Russia.

Cherkizovo general director Sergei Mikhailov said this year the company expects further increases of pig and poultry production and plans to reach pre-crisis level of production. The company believes that the price trends in the market of meat products will remain positive mainly due to lower imports and increased demand for domestic products.

In 2009, the group announced the implementation of a large-scale livestock project worth RUB45.7 billion (US$1.507 billion) in the Lipetsk region. It involved the construction of plants for slaughter and pork processing with the capacity of 250,000 tonnes and 230,000 tonnes of poultry meat and a feed factory with the capacity of 80 tonnes per hour. The project is scheduled to be fully completed by 2014.