Despite the country contending with a political and economic crisis, large poultry producers exporting to the Middle East and Europe were able to benefit from increased revenues last year.
Ukraine’s currency has fallen significantly in value over the past two years, having "a profound impact" on the poultry market, according to the FAS’ post in Kiev. However, the poultry sector may well have benefited from the squeeze on consumer income, as demand for more expensive animal protein, such as red meat, decreased.
Looking ahead
Predictions for 2015 are that production growth will continue to slow down, with weaker domestic demand. Exports will continue to be a significant source of revenue for producers, with Russia’s importance becoming negligible, and marginal growth in exports possible.
"Ukraine has opened the EU market and is expected to fulfil its export tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) in full from EU-approved facilities," added the report. The Netherlands was its number one EU export destination for the first 11 months of 2014, with an 8% share. This compares to Iraq with 20%, Uzbekistan with 14% and Kazakhstan with 11%.
According to the USDA, US exporters will continue to supply limited quantities of poultry meat and products to the country, while exports of poultry offal from the EU are forecast to continue, despite the lack of a TRQ. Exports from the US have fallen significantly, however, from 22% of the market, to 6% last year.
Germany supplies the majority of exports to Ukraine, with a 37% market share, alongside Poland with 24%, and Hungary with 9%. Other exporters include the UK and the Netherlands.
In terms of imports, demand looks to be strongest for the lower end of the value chain, including products for further processing. In the first 11 months of last year, offal was responsible for more than 75% of all poultry imports.
The major players
Poultry production in Ukraine is dominated by two major businesses: MHP and Agromars. MHP has more than a 50% market share, with production increasing 18% between 2013 and 2014, to 0.5m MT. Agromars supplies product from two sites in the Kiev and Kharkiv regions, however there is limited information available on the company, said the report.