October 22, 2007

Russia's Rubezh to build new meat plant in St. Petersburg

The Rubezh group of companies, a meat importer in Russia, has announced it is building a new plant for semi-finished products and meat delicacies in St. Petersburg.

The plant would churn out 200 tonnes of meat products a day, or more than 48,000 tonnes a year. Investment is expected at US$20 million.

The new facility is expected to widen the company's range of products it has to offer and allows the company to diversify into a high growth area.

According to Euromonitoring, the Russian market for frozen semi-finished meat products rose 20 percent to R24 billion (US$965 million) in 2006 from R 20 billion (US$804 million) in 2005.

In 2007, it is expected to grow to R28 billion  (US$1.13 billion). According to the company, Rubezh imports over 200,000 tonnes per year and accounts for 10-12 percent of the Russian market.

This year, it is building a low-temperature 40,000 tonnes terminal in St. Petersburg.