July 13, 2006

Investment in Russia's Rostov pork industry rising

Russia's major grain producing region Rostov would within the next three years increase its pork output to 150,000 tonnes a year from the current 120,000 tonnes as large amounts of money are being invested in the industry by both federal and local investors.

The administration of the Rostov region said in a statement Thursday (Jul 13) that the Russian Pork company is building pig farms totaling 100,000 pigs in the region, the Agrocom group is investing in a 60,000-pig farm, to be increased later to 100,000, while the Don grain producer announced Thursday it would commission by 2009 a 24,000-pig farm.

Rostov region in the 1980s was Russia's major pork producer, with the number of pigs in the region totaling 2.2 million in its heyday. The number of pigs is currently down to 700,000. In the 1980s, the region produced annually about 180,000 tonnes of pork.

Pork production in Rostov is highly profitable as the region has plentiful feed grain supplies, and it is situated near the main pork consuming regions in central Russia, which keeps transportation costs low.