"Resource" will be replenished with Don lamb

The Resurs group of agricultural enterprises plans to open a MEAT processing plant at the modernized facilities of the bankrupt Belaya Ptitsa in the Belokalitvinsky district. He will specialize in the slaughter of small cattle. The expert says that the appearance of a federal-level player on the regional lamb market is a significant event. Now the market is occupied mainly by local companies, the production of lamb is mainly carried out by small and medium-sized enterprises.

GAP "Resurs", one of the three largest domestic producers of poultry meat, plans to open a meat processing plant in the reconstructed and modernized slaughterhouse "White Bird - Rostov" in the Belokalitvinsky district, which will produce products from lamb. N was told about this in the press service of the State Joint-Stock Company "Resource". The company did not comment on the project in detail, the parameters of the enterprise are not disclosed.
The press service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Rostov Region N confirmed that a project to create an enterprise specializing in the slaughter of small cattle has begun at the leased facilities of Belaya Ptitsa-Rostov.
- Now work is underway on commissioning and re-equipment of slaughter facilities from poultry to small cattle. When reaching its design capacity at the end of summer, the enterprise will be able to slaughter about 400 heads of small cattle per day. Regional agricultural producers should form the basis of the raw material base, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Rostov Region reported.
For the regional meat market, the arrival of GAP "Resurs" is a significant event. This is a sign that the big players are switching to lamb. Now the market is occupied mainly by regional companies, the production of mutton is small-scale, it is mainly engaged in small and medium-sized enterprises, there are few large ones. Now federal players are entering the market, says Alexei Plugov, CEO of the AB-Center, an expert and analytical center for agribusiness:
— With such production capacities, logistical capabilities and such experience, GAP "Resurs" has all the prospects to implement the project to the maximum and take a place in the market. I think they will start producing large-sized semi-finished products, partly small-sized ones. Meat-packing plants, the HoReCa sector may become a sales market, but, perhaps, "Resurs" itself will be engaged in the processing and production of products for the end consumer in retail packaging. From the point of view of logistics, the Rostov region, of course, was chosen well. The region gravitates towards the traditional sales markets - the North Caucasus and the Southern Federal Districts, where the consumption of mutton is higher than the average for RUSSIA. The Rostov Region is relatively close to another promising market, Moscow.
The Don region is in 8th place in Russia in terms of the number of sheep and in 6th place in terms of lamb production. 4.7% of the total number of sheep and goats is concentrated here and 4.8% of Russian mutton is produced. The volume of production is kept at about the same level, the expert notes. In 2021, the enterprises of the Rostov region produced 10.2 thousand tons of mutton in slaughter weight (21.8 thousand tons in live weight), which is only 0.8% less than in 2020. The leaders in production are Dagestan, Kalmykia and the Astrakhan region.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of sheep and goats decreased significantly, in the early 2000s it began to recover and reached its peak in 2016. Then Russian mutton began to be actively exported to Iran, says Alexey Plugov. In 2017, the EXPORT volume amounted to 0.5 thousand tons of lamb, and in 2018-2019 it increased to 12.4 thousand tons per year.
“A significant amount went to Iran,” the expert emphasizes. “The deliveries were really large, the livestock simply did not have time to recover and decreased somewhat. So, in 2016 in Russia there were 24.7 million heads, and in 2021 - 20.9 million heads. The meat was delivered uncut. Basically, these were chilled carcasses and half carcasses of lambs, in smaller volumes - carcasses and half carcasses of adult rams and sheep.
In 2020, the volume of mutton supplies to Iran dipped to 6.4 thousand tons. In 2021-2022 there are no official data on the export of mutton to this country. Presumably, exports have fallen to the lowest levels, says Alexey Plugov:
“It is important to note that cooperation with Iran has given a good experience of large-scale deliveries abroad and helped to consolidate the market, establish cooperation between slaughterhouses, farmers and other market participants. It has become more competitive. Enterprises have become larger, more organized and disciplined, they have learned how to pack goods with high quality, they have gained experience in logistics.
Белгородский холдинг "Белая птица" начал развивать свой бизнес в Ростовской области в 2014 году на производственных мощностях обанкротившейся группы компаний "Оптифуд", но вскоре обанкротился сам. Процесс банкротства предприятий ГК "Белая птица" был запущен в 2018 году. Компании стали испытывать трудности из-за высокой долговой нагрузки. Ситуацию осложнили вспышки птичьего гриппа. Ростовский дивизион "Белой птицы" составляли четыре предприятия — комбикормовый завод "Лиман", агрофирма "Приазовская", птицефабрики "Бройлер Дон" и "Белая птица — Ростов". В марте прошлого года "Ресурс" стал арендовать мощности птицекомплекса "Белая птица — Ростов". В начале 2022 года стало известно, что компания арендует и имущество АО "Лиман", ООО "Бройлер Дон" и АО "Агрофирма "Приазовская"". Чтобы вывести предприятия "Белой птицы" из процедуры банкротства, ООО "Ставропольский бройлер", входящий в ГАП "Ресурс" и являющийся кредитором разорившихся компаний, инициировал процедуру замещения активов. Она началась в конце прошлого года и предполагает обмен требований кредиторов на акции нового предприятия, которые затем продаются на открытых торгах.
Having begun the restoration and development of production at the facilities of the bankrupt complex, Resource announced plans to place a parent flock on the Don industrial site to provide its poultry farms with hatching eggs. Last year, the company launched three production sites of "White Bird": 265,000 heads of young broilers were planted in 23 buildings. Now, one site for rearing young broiler chickens is operating at the facilities of the enterprise in the Belokalitvinsky district, and three sites for growing broiler chickens and a poultry processing plant are operating in the Semikarakorsky district.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Rostov Region, 95 meat processing enterprises and slaughterhouses of various capacities are currently operating in the Don region, and 62 have the opportunity to slaughter small cattle. In the Rostov region, sheep breeding is developed mainly in the eastern regions. The largest meat processing enterprises are LLC Trade House Ekomyasprom in the Peschanokopsky district and MPK Vostok in the Remontnensky district (IP Karpenko Z.N.). The total average annual capacity of meat processing enterprises for the production of lamb in the region is about 9 thousand tons per year.