Exports of livestock products last year exceeded 1 million tons

The expert recalled that at the turn of 2018-2019, with intensive growth in production, we reached 100% self-sufficiency in pork. However, investments made in business up to 2019 inclusive , which were stimulated by preferential loans, led to a further increase in production at a level of 5% to 8% per year. “Thus, although we reached 100% self-sufficiency several years ago, pork production continues to grow,” Kovalev emphasized. Therefore, the main challenge for the industry now is the risk of market oversaturation, as well as a possible decrease in wholesale prices, aggravated by inflation, an increase in production costs and a decrease in margins and profitability.

In 2023, the increase in industrial pork production was 6.5% compared to 2022, however, due to high demand, prices did not drop - on average for the year they were 6% higher than in 2022 - at the level of 2021. th. The fact is that last year, in addition to an increase in demand, presented the pig farming sector with many surprises, in particular an increase in household incomes, as well as a significant breakthrough in exports. “After a 10-15% drop in shipments to foreign markets in 2022, we increased this figure by 38% at the end of last year, selling a total of 240 thousand tons of pig products to foreign markets,” Kovalev noted. Export items included live pigs, meat , bacon, and offal. “In total, exports of livestock products from Russia, including live cattle and by-products, exceeded 1 million tons at the end of last year, with a total value of more than $2 billion,” the head of the NSS cited the data. The main buyer of Russian pig products is Belarus , and Vietnam is also a major importer .

Meat consumption over the past eight years in Russia has increased by 13%, mainly due to the increase in pork consumption - within this 13%, the share of this type of meat is 33%. The reason, Kovalev explained, is that prices for it are growing more slowly than for other types of meat: for pork over the past eight years they have increased by 25%, while overall food inflation over this period was 72%.

By the end of this year, the NSS expects an increase in pork production of 6-7%. In the following years, the rate of increase in production will slow down, although the figure will still continue to grow - by the end of 2026, industrial enterprises will add another 600 thousand tons of pork in slaughter weight to the current volumes, predicts Kovalev. These volumes will be distributed to domestic consumption, which is expected to grow slightly. In addition, production in the private household plot sector will continue to decline. The remaining volumes will be exported. With the opening of China last year, our enterprises have new opportunities to increase shipments. The first batches are already leaving there, Kovalev shared. He noted that in this market he will have to compete with strong enterprises from Canada, the USA , and Brazil. Nowadays , offal products that are traditional for the country - legs, tails, ears, snouts, tracheas - go mainly to China from Russia. But the NSS expects that in the future the structure of exports will change and at least 50% will come from various cuts of meat, and 50% from by-products.