Russian butchers grow at lightning speed

The large pig integrations in Russia grew significantly in 2017. On balance, the 20 largest producers grew by 7,3% to 3,8 million tons of pork. Especially well-known names such as Cherkizovo and RusAgro produced considerably more.

The growth that many integrations write is in line with the growing pig population in Russia. Last March, Russia had 24 million pigs, more than 5% more than 1 year earlier. It is striking that Miratorg, by far the largest Russian producer of pork, has hardly grown (+1,5% to 415.000 tons). This may change in the coming years, given the meat concern gigantic ambitions pursues.

The volume of Cherkizovo, the second largest producer in Russia, on the other hand, increased by 14,6% to 211.000 tons. This means that the integration has a market share of more than 5%. RusAgro completes the podium. This meat and grain giant grew by almost 10% to 207.000 tons. Also this party has plans rolled out to further boost the meat volume in the coming years. RusAgro's market share is also above 5%.

Subtoppers grow fast
The 'sub-toppers' in particular are growing rapidly. For example, the volume of Velikoluksky SVK, the fifth largest producer in Russia, increased by 33,6% to 175.000 tons. Russia's number 6 achieved the largest percentage growth in 2017; the volume of Agropromkomplektatsiya increased by 41% to 163.000 tons.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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