July 5, 2012

Russia's production of animal feed antibiotics up

In the first quarter of 2012, Russia produced 8,500 kilogrammes of animal feed antibiotics, up 46.6% on the same period last year with a total annual production of 47,400 kilogrammes in 2011, up from 13,900 kilogrammes the year before, according to official statistics.

Russia is rapidly becoming the world's largest market for in-feed antibiotics, experts have noted.

The country is also importing large quantities of the drugs, with 86.5% of the antibiotics used in animal feed coming from abroad. It is estimated that the country imports around US$42.885 million of feed antibiotics every year, with the value of the market rising by nine times over the last six years.

Currently, the biggest suppliers of feed antibiotics to Russian market are CEVA Group, Invesa Group, KRKA DD, and Pfizer Animal Health.

The total market volume of in-feed antibiotics in Russia is currently estimated at 326,800 kilogrammes. Around 23% of these are used for the treatment and prevention of disease, with 19% used as growth promoters, 36% as anti-parasitic drugs and 22% as a general preventive tool.

With the Russian accession in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), it is predicted that the volume of in-feed antibiotics used by the country will continue to rise by two to three times per year.

Russian experts predict that the country has the potential to overtake the US in terms of the consumption of antibiotics in animal husbandry by 2018, or even sooner if in-feed antibiotics are restricted in the US. The US is currently the largest consumer of in-feed antibiotics and consumes 15,000 tonnes of in-feed antibiotics annually.