Russia begins exporting poultry to China
According to Lyubov Burdienko, commercial director of the Russian consulting agency EMEAT, 23 Russian poultry businesses are to export to China.
“A week ago, the General Administration of Customs of China published on the official website a list of Russian poultry farms that were granted with the right to supply [poultry] products to China,” Burdienko said. “The list of 23 companies includes such manufacturers as Cherkizovo, Miratorg, Prioskolye, Damate, Krasnobor and others. The first deliveries will begin two or three months after manufacturers conclude contracts with Chinese distributors.”
Some forecasts said that Russia may nearly triple its poultry exports in the coming few years thanks to the Chinese market.
From January to December of 2018, Russian poultry companies exported 114,300 tonnes (t) of poultry, 24.8% up as compared to the same period of the previous year, Russian Federal Customs Service estimated.
Over the past few years Russian government officials have been repeatedly expressing hopes that China could become one of the main sales markets for the Russian meat, including pork and poultry.
“Theoretically, basing on production capacity and balance on the domestic demand, Russia may annually export to China up to 150,000t of chicken feet, paws and wingtips, along with 50,000-100,000t of other chicken cuts, such as drumsticks, wing drummettes, whole wings and even some turkey meat,” said Albert Davleyev, President of the Russian consulting agency Agrifood Strategies.
“The most prospective suppliers will be the biggest broiler producers like GAP Resource, Chekizovo Group and Prioskolie. They have been selling basic chicken items, which are popular in China, to Vietnam and Hong Kong for many years and their product specifications and quality are already recognized by traders in South-East Asia,” he added.
According to Davleyev, price may be a major constraint for high volumes of Russia poultry exports to China. But the major challenge for the Russian poultry producers will be their capacity to meet very strict Chinese food safety requirements.
Export volumes are not limited, under conditions that all suppliers match to the quality requirements of the Chinese authorities, added Burdienko, who also warned that there is tough competition in this market.
“China imports 500,000t of poultry per year primarily from Brazil, Argentine and Chile. However, I don’t believe that Russia could expect to get a big stake in this deal [Chinese poultry imports] and moreover it would be wrong to talk about pushing out or replacing the traditional suppliers on the Chinese market,” Burdienko said.
