Despite “challenges on different markets”, the agro-industrial meat processor and grain cultivator chalked up a 50% increase in poultry exports to the Middle East. CEO Yuriy Kosyuk told GlobalMeatNews the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region was next in its sights.
All of MHP’s Ukrainian poultry production facilities have been operating at full capacity, the business reported in a pre-close trading statement for the first six months of the year to 30 June.
Poultry production across MHP’s chicken operations increased by 10% to 305,540 tonnes (t), compared to the same period a year earlier.
‘Developing’ well
The luxury of its poultry plants firing on all cylinders gave MHP the ammunition to increase volume sales of chicken to international markets substantially. “The main driver in total poultry sales growth was exports,” MHP reported. During the first half of the year, poultry exports surged by 31% to reach 86,370t.
Exports of poultry to the Middle East doubled, with shipments to the EU and Africa rising by 26% and 6% respectively.
“Since the beginning of the year, we have been developing in line with the company’s export strategy and opened processing plant in the Netherlands,” Kosyuk told this website.
“This is a next logical step in deepening our vertical integration strategy, pursuing the main objective to have a tighter control over the quality of our products and services delivered to end customers. We look at other parts of the world as well and our next steps will be in the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region. With our competitive cost base, compliance with international standards, strong market position in Ukraine and growing presence in export markets, I am optimistic about the company and its prospects."
Sausage upswing
International growth for MHP followed its strategy of “diversification and geographic expansion” with the Middle East, Asia and Africa earmarked as regions where the business was keen to build export volume growth.
Poultry prices, too, recorded growth on the domestic and global stage, with the average price rising by 11% to UAH29.20 (€1.06) per kg. This year-on-year price increase was driven by growth in poultry prices in Ukraine and came after MHP’s CEO Yuriy Kosyuk spoke about the challenges with “historically low poultry prices worldwide” in May.
Prices for cooked meat and sausages jumped by 8% in the first half of the year to UAH45.80 (€1.60). Alongside the rise in prices, volume sales saw a significant 50% increase, with 17,980t sold in the first six months of the year. This was helped by a new marketing campaign that covered not just cooked meats, but the whole brand.