Pork production in Russia increased by 5% in 2022

The total increase in pork production in 2022 amounted to 5%, or more than 200 thousand tons of meat in slaughter weight. Yuri Kovalev, General Director of the National Union of Pig Breeders, spoke about this at the Agro-Industrial Conference “Agro Day”organized by Kommersant Publishing House.

According to him, the industrial sector of pig breeding grew even stronger – by 6.9%, however, taking into account the decline in the sectors in private and peasant farms, where a negative trend has been developing for many years due to demographic issues and the inability to ensure biosecurity, the overall increase was 5%.

“The year was predictable. We knew that the entire additional volume would fall on the domestic market, since it was impossible either to reduce imports – they are uncompetitive in our country and have practically no value, less than 1% of production, or to increase exports, about 5%, since Russian pork already occupies dominant position in open markets,” said Mr. Kovalev.

According to the expert, against this background, pork producers expected a fall in domestic prices by 10-15%, which carried “huge risks for the economy of enterprises.” “In the first half of the year, the cost of production continued to grow due to the growth of the dollar, the break in supply chains, a multiple increase in the cost of imported spare parts, veterinary drugs and other things. But in the second half of the year, the trend reversed, the chains, although with great difficulty, were restored, the exchange rate stabilized, continued Yuri Kovalev. cost. Pork prices have declined, but production costs have also fallen, which has supported margins.”

Pig farmers were also helped by the growth in meat consumption – by a record 6%, in which a significant role was played by state assistance programs for the population.

“About 500–700 billion rubles. was directed to the poor. This did not make them richer, but it allowed them to spend this money on food, and given the cheaper pork, it was on it, ”summed up the general director of the National Union of Pig Breeders.