Miratorg kicks off huge slaughterhouse

Miratorg, one of the largest pig producers in Russia, has started construction of a huge slaughterhouse. This slaughterhouse must have a processing capacity of 500.000 tons of meat per year. The investment is estimated at $1,18 billion.

The new slaughterhouse is good for a slaughter capacity of about 4,5 million pigs per year. As a result, Miratorg's meat production will double to approximately 2022 million tons by 1,1. The slaughterhouse is located in Kurk Oblast, in southwestern Russia. According to Alexander Mikhailov, governor of Kursk Oblast, the slaughterhouse will be the largest in Russia and perhaps even in Europe.

State aid
15 production locations will also be realized in the vicinity of the slaughterhouse. According to Victor Linnik, CEO at Miratorg, the total investment costs are about $2,75 billion. The first phase of the project will be completed in 2020. Everything should be completed in 2021.

It is striking that the Russian government provides support to finance the construction. This is done in the form of interest-free loans and subsidies. "Even for a company like Miratorg it is impossible to afford a project of this magnitude," said Mikhailov. Russia benefits from Miratorg's plans. In this way, the country can boost its self-sufficiency level.

Self-sufficient in one fell swoop 
According to Mikhailov, pork production in Kurk Oblast exceeds demand from the country by 3 times. However, in Russia itself there is still room for about 300.000 tons of pork. With the planned expansion of 500.000 tons, Russia can start exporting serious volumes. In 2017, Russia exported 'only' 25.000 tons.

Miratorg sees a lot of sales potential in China in the future. The company is therefore in talks with the Chinese authorities, although those talks are not going very smoothly, according to Linnik. 

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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