December 1, 2011

Russia's pork production rises by 5%

The total capacity of the Russian pork market has increased significantly by 5% in the first three quarters of 2011.

According to official statistics, not only has there been an increase in the volume of domestic pork production, but also in the supply of pork export.

Moreover, a marked increase has been achieved in volume of imports beyond the quota. The total capacity of the pork market in Russia has reached 2380tonnes, which is by 4.6% more than in January to September last year.

The number of pigs in all categories of farms in Russia as of October 1 2011 was 18776.2 head, up 0.4% (by 73.7 thousand heads) compared to the same date in 2010.  The number of pigs in agricultural organisations increased by 4.6% (by 509.5 thousand heads) - up to 11682.6 thousand heads, while in private households, it decreased by 4.9% (by 329 000 head) - to 63347 thousand head and in peasant farms it fell by 12.5% ​​(by 106.8 thousand heads) - to 748.9 thousand heads.

Pork production in carcass weight in all categories of farms in Russia in January to September 2011 amounted to 1519.1 thousand tonnes (2072.5 thousand tones in live weight), which is 5% higher than the in the same period in 2010. Production rate in agricultural enterprises increased by 9.5% - up to 936.8 thousand tonnes. In households this figure decreased by 2.4% to 541.2 thousand tonnes, while at peasant farms its increased by 11.5% - to 41.1 thousand tonnes.

In the total structure of pork production in Russia in January to September 2011, the share of agricultural enterprises amounted to 61.7%, the share of private households - 35.6%, the share of peasant farms - 2.7%. As a result of 2011, the share of private households is expected to increase significantly due to seasonal increase in production in the categories of farms in the fourth quarter. Pork production in all categories of farms in slaughter weight per capita for the first nine months of 2011 was 10.7kilogrammes, while for the same period of the last year this figure was about 10.2kilogrammes.