Russia sees drop in pork and beef imports in June

17-Jul-2013 - Last updated on 18-Jul-2013 at 11:01 GMT

Russia has reduced pork and beef imports

Russia saw a dramatic drop in pork and beef imports last month as the result of falling domestic meat prices, according to officials.

Data from the Federal Customs Service revealed that Russian pork imports fell by 20.6% in June 2013 compared to May 2013, with the value of pork imports down 9% to US$165.5m. Beef import volumes were down 27.2%, with values down 8.8% to US$207.7m. In contrast, poultry imports for the period were up 11.9%.

Experts noted that exporting pork and beef to Russia has become less attractive to foreign companies because of recent declines in meat prices on the Russian market. In particular, the price of pork has dropped from RUB105 (US$3.5) per kg to RUB62 (US$2.1) since the country joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). They added that meat imports have also fallen because of the government’s changes to meat import policies.

“The reduction in the supply of meat to Russia occurred in connection with the cancellation of preferences for the import of such products from developing countries. By the year-end, total imports are expected to be reduced by approximately 10%,” said the head of the executive committee of the National Meat Association of Russia, Sergey Yushin.

“Among the reasons for this decline in imports is the fall in domestic prices for pork and a number of restrictions on the supply of meat, imposed by Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor.”

Russia almost completely stopped the import of meat from the US this year. The supply of US pork to Russia fell by 6 times in the January-May 2013 period to 5.77 thousand tonnes (t), worth US$17.9m. Beef exports fell by a thousand times from 30,547t a year in January-May 2012 to just 35t in the same period this year.

Experts said that the fall in meat imports is an important milestone indicating a stabalisation on the Russian market for the first time since joining the WTO.

“The overall decline in imports of meat should have a positive impact on the balance of goods on the market - in favour of the production of the domestic livestock industry,” said Yushin.

He added that Russia is now virtually self-sufficient in meat and still rapidly increasing its production.