Russia to develop poultry meat export supplies
According to him the country will seek to geographically expand its sales market in these new destinations.
"In the context of the embargo we primarily have to meet the demand on the domestic market. So the work on expanding of export supplies is conducted, but we are not forcing it," Fyodorov has said, adding that Russia already entered into negotiations with a number of countries on the establishment of poultry exports.
"Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Vietnam and China - these countries are of interest to us. But so far too little time has passed [since start of negotiations] to expect results. In addition, we can not say that there is an urgent need for the creating of large-scale supplies to the foreign markets, as for example producers from the United States and Canada have to do," said Fyodorov.
In addition, according to the country’s Agricultural Ministry, Russia will establish export of meat to Angola in 2015.
As previously stated by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev this year, the country is now fully self-sufficient in terms of poultry production, and has an appropriate level of food security in terms of pork production, which allows the country to establish export of these two types of meat.
"With regards to poultry meat - we have completely met the domestic demand. For pork, the level of self-sufficiency is standing at 80-85%, and for beef it is at 65-70%. In the medium term we are able to completely abandon meat import supplies." Medvedev recently stated.
According to official data from the Russian Federal Customs Service, Russia exported 51,000 tonnes (t) of poultry last year. The largest importers of Russian poultry meat were Hong Kong (62% of total supplies), Vietnam (14%) and Thailand (11%). According to official forecasts from the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, exports of poultry meat from the country should also triple within the coming several years and could reach 140,000t by 2018.
Russian began exporting poultry meat in 2009, supplying 6,000t in its initial year.
In the opinion of the country’s experts today it is the perfect time to increase export of meat. "The fall in the exchange rate of the Russian ruble against most of the world currencies made the Russian poultry and pork very competitive on price at foreign markets, primarily in Asia. The launch of large-scale exports to Europe so far remains unlikely, but the markets of Asia and the Middle East can really allow the country to boost exports," stated Russian agricultural analyst Eugene Gerden.
