During the first half of 2016, sales increased 40.4% when compared to the same period last year, bringing the total figure to 106,440 tonnes (t), with a value of $127.85m.
The country’s Agriculture Ministry said that the main markets for Ukrainian poultry were Iraq, Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, the Netherlands and Germany.
The total Ukrainian meat industry produced 963,000t between January and July, which represented an increase of 1.6% compared to the same period of 2015. Production of beef and pork was down 0.5% and 1.6%, respectively, while poultry production rose 6.3%, according to official data.
Limited export markets
The prospects for exports in the second half of 2016 were unclear as the Ukraine has exhausted its main quota for the supply of poultry to the European Union (EU) of 36,000t, with only a small amount allowed under its additional quota.
In the first half of 2016, the EU accounted for nearly a third of Ukraine’s poultry exports, while its previous largest foreign markets in the Eurasia Economic Union remained closed due to a food embargo. Current limitations on poultry exports have been sharply criticised by local market participants over recent months.
Alexandr Ohrimenko, head of the Ukraine Analytical Center, said: “In terms of chilled poultry, Ukraine has a quota for supplies of 16,000t of this type of meat per year. At the same time there is also quota for import of 8,000t. The EU, which is the largest producer, in particular Poland and Hungary, currently supplies this meat to Ukraine.
“I think we have been fooled,” stated Yuri Kosyuk, chairman of Ukraine’s largest poultry producer MHP Food," said Ohrimenko. “There are dramatic restrictions on quotas of exports from the Ukraine. The Ukraine produces 1.2 million tonnes of chicken meat per year, while Europe gave Ukraine a duty-free quota of 16,000t plus 20,000t of frozen chicken carcasses, which absolutely nobody needs. Above that quota there is a fee of E1,000 per tonne.”
Working ‘professionally’
MHP accounts for the largest share of Ukraine’s poultry export and over recent months has been trying to find a crossway to the EU market. Recently it invested $3.5m in a small production line in the Netherlands. MHP also intends to launch a marketing campaign to prove to its EU clients the high quality of Ukraine chicken.
“We have all the necessary certificates for operation in the EU market,” explained Anastasia Sobotyuk, head of public relations at MHP. “In the Netherlands, we are conducting a dialogue with many stakeholders, public organisations and associations. We will continue to inform the community that MHP is working professionally, so there is no incorrectly interpreted information”.