Russia to expand poultry exports to China
In its report, it outlined how Russia was granted with the right to export poultry products to China in 2018. So far, 23 companies have been authorized to export broiler meat to China, including the biggest meat producers Cherkizovo, Miratorg and Prioskolie.
Cherkizovo signed orders to export different poultry products to China for some $8m, the company said in a statement on its website. The first shipments were sent in May 2019, and Cherkizovo is expected to supply China with 1,000 tonnes (t) of poultry products until July. So far, the company primarily exports chicken feet – the products that are considered as waste in Russia, but is in rather high demand in China, according to Cherkizovo.
In 2019, Russian companies would be able to export 30,000t of poultry meat to China, Cherkizovo forecasted. In the next several years, exports are expected to grow to 150,000t to 200,000t per year, the company estimated.
Russia may be able to export from 50,000t to 100,000t of poultry to China this year, Rabobank said in its recently published quarterly report. The country needs more meat since the domestic pork production is expected to drop by around 25%, affecting the consumption trends, according to Rabobank.
Russian pork is next
China is braced for the possible meat shortage on the domestic market and in this regard is working to allow importing meat from more countries, according to a statement of the Chinese Meat Association. The country may allow pork imports from Russia.
Russia has asked the Chinese government to acknowledge the Russian regionalization system in regard to African Swine Fever (ASF) and foot-and-mouth diseases, said Julia Melano, spokesperson for the Russian veterinary body Rosselhoznadzor. This would allow Russian companies to export meat products from the regions free from these diseases.
It is expected that Russia would be able to get permission to export pork and beef to China already until the end of this year, Melano added.
Russian pork has even brighter prospects on the Chinese market than Russian poultry, Musheg Mamikonyan, chairman of the Russian Meat Union told Russian analytical agency Russian Business Consulting.
Russian pork manufacturers estimated that they would be able to establish pork exports to China for $500m per year, Mamikonyan said, adding that at the current level of industry development it is unlikely that Russian companies would be able to compete with Brazilian exporters on the Chinese beef market.
In 2018, Russia exported $1bn of food products to China, the Russian Agricultural Ministry estimated. The country primarily exported fish and sea food from the Far East – the part of the country bordering with China. In the coming few years, Russia is expected to export around 150,000t of poultry meat to China per year, the Ministry estimated.
