Jump in Russian poultry meat prices

Russia has experienced a jump in poultry meat prices of almost 25% over the second half of August, following the trade restrictions imposed by the country’s government in the beginning of the month.

The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has already initiated a series of inspections of the market as the department suspects that the prices are raising due to fraud.

“The rise in prices for meat production can be attributed to the embargo and an incomplete import substitution, but we suspect that the main reason of growth in poultry prices is fraud,” the Deputy Head of the Department of Monitoring of the Chemical Industry and Agriculture of FAS has stated.

For example, in Chelyabinsk Oblast the prices per 1 kg of chicken meat from August 15 to August 25 jumped from RUB 125 (US$ 3.36) to RUB 68 (US$4.52). “This growth is observed in all regions across the country, including in Moscow. We will carry out inspections and in the case of unjustified growth we will initiate legal proceedings,” added the representative of FAS.

There is a trend of rising prices for poultry meat, says the executive director of the Association of Retail Companies, Andrew Karpov, but as he understands it, Russia banned imports of frozen pork and beef, and producers of semi-finished and finished meat products switched to the use of chicken.

“Processors have switched to poultry, provoking a rise in prices in the wholesale segment, which has put pressure on retail prices,” confirms President of the Agrifood Strategies Albert Davleyev, adding that there are not any internal reasons for the rise in price of chicken meat. He reiterates that the ban has provoked the deficit and probably in the coming weeks the price may continue to rise.