For the first time in 10 years, poultry production fell by more than 6%

In February, the decline was at the level of 2.6%

In the first two months of this year, poultry production for slaughter in live weight fell by 6.2% compared to the same period in 2020, and this is the first time this has happened in 10 years. Sergey Lakhtyukhov, General DIRECTOR of the National Union of Poultry Breeders, said this during the Russian MEAT & Feed Industry conference of Agroinvestor. However, he added, there were prerequisites for this: the fall in December was 3.5%. “A decrease of 6% in February is no longer so scary, because 2020 was a leap year, and taking this into account, it turns out that the decrease in production in February this year was at the level of 2.5%,” said Lakhtyukhov.

According to Rosstat, by April 5, chicken retail prices rose by an average of 14.6% compared to the end of December. The rise in prices for poultry products is due to several reasons. Firstly, the growth of the cost of production has affected due to the increase in the cost of feed and their components: wheat, meal, oil, essential amino acids are becoming more expensive, Lakhtyukhov stressed. And if grain prices have now begun to stabilize, then some amino acids have risen in price by 260% in six months. Packaging and other components of production are also growing in price.

In addition, due to the closure of the import of hatching eggs from the main supplier countries by the end of the year against the backdrop of the spread of avian influenza, prices for it increased significantly, and the effect of this factor is still not fully included in the cost. “We have a shortage of high-quality hatching eggs, but if we look at weekly imports, we see that it is consistently ahead of last year, and since March it has even exceeded the results of 2019, when our importers were actively importing it,” said Lakhtyukhov. However, the shortage of hatching eggs has affected the supply of poultry products.

Lakhtyukhov also recalled that in early February, some market participants agreed not to allow prices for broiler carcasses and eggs to rise. According to him, then the cost of a carcass was more than 120 rubles per kg without VAT, despite the fact that it was supplied to retail chains not even at 130 rubles, but cheaper. “We had an agreement with the networks: we are holding back prices in March-April. But now we see that the chains have begun to take advantage of the situation a little and are pushing prices down. But they are already declining - over the past week, prices have fallen by 4-6 rubles / kg, ”Lakhtyukhov said.