Russia: Pork continues to become cheaper
In January 2013 the prices of live pigs and pork in Russia have reached the lowest level ever.
For svereal months now production in the Russian pig industry has become cheaper and since September last year, prices of domestic production of live pigs decreased 27% while for pork half carcasses – it decreased 23%. Also the growth of prices for feed for this period was more than 30%, according to Sergey Chernyshev, from the analytical agency EMEAT.
As a result over the last year in Russia, there has been a marked reduction in the gap between the prices of domestic products and foreign pork production. On average during 2012 the price for pork has decreased by 20%, while in other major producing countries, it has risen by more than 10%. Thus, at the end of 2012 for the first time, in China pork became more expensive than in Russia.
By the end of January, according to EMEAT, the cost of pork half carcasses in Russia reached RUB 114.0 (US$ 3.7) per kg, while in Russia it was only RUB 107 rub (US$ 3.6) per kg.
“One of the main reasons for the decline in prices of pork in the country is a significant increase in the supply of pork imports. Over the last four months of 2012, imports of chilled and frozen pork to Russia increased 28% compared to the same period of 2011. Since mid-November 2012 the import pressures on domestic prices increased with the weakening of the dollar exchange rate against the ruble,” said Chernyshov.
