Covid-19 pandemic will not hinder Russian poultry export

Broiler production and processing in Russia saw no negative effect of Covid-19 and aims for record production and exports in 2020. Photo: Koos Groenewold

Poultry meat exports from Russia to the world is at full swing, even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2020, Russia will export 300,000 tons of poultry meat, almost 100.000 tons more than in 2019. That was forecasted by Galina Bobyleva, chairman of the Russian union of poultry producers Rosptitzesoyuz during a conference on August 6.

Poultry exports

Russia already exported 147,600 tons of poultry meat in the first half of 2020. For comparison, the volume in the first 6 months of 2019 only added up to 81,900 tons, Bobyleva said. Especially the export volume going to countries outside CIS (former Russian republics) grew substantially. “About 63% of our exports went to 24 countries, including China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, and others,” Bobyleva said. Russia is also exporting poultry to 8 countries within the CIS region.

Poultry consumption & self-sufficiency

Russia now produces more poultry meat than it can consume. In 2020, the self-sufficiency level of poultry reached 101.4% – the highest level of any type of meat. According to Bobyleva, further growth is driven by export demand.

Poultry production

In 2020, Russia will increase its poultry production to 5.11 million tons in slaughter weight, compared to 5.01 million tons in 2019.

Retail poultry

The domestic demand didn’t suffer from the pandemic either. According to Bobyleva, the overall retail volume amounted to 530,000 tons in March, 514,000 tons in April, 530,000 tons in May and 517,000 tons in June.

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Eggs

The picture is similar in the egg segment, where no sharp fluctuations of demand and prices have been seen.

Negative impact on breeding farms

The quarantine measures introduced in Russia to slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus had undermined sales through HoReCa, but this segment managed to bounce back quickly, Bobyleva said. The virus has negatively affected some breeding farms, especially those working with small-scale poultry farms, Bobyleva admitted.

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Turkey and duck popular

The poultry meat sector grows across the board. Besides broiler production, turkey and duck production is bullish. Turkey meat production is expected to reach 301,500 tons in 2020 against 288,100 tons in the previous year, Bobyleva said. This growth is mainly reached by an increase in the production of the major producers Damate and Cherkizovo. Duck meat production is expected to climb to 78,200 tons from 65,200 tons in 2019. The growth in this segment is also driven by Damate, which has recently bought the bankrupted duck meat producer Donstar. Also new companies are entering this segment. For example, Rammaevskoe farm in the Tatarstan Republic has plans to expand duck meat production to 16,800 tons by 2024, Bobyleva stated.