Pig population growth in Russia has stopped

Russian pig production increased by 1,1% (or 57.000 tonnes), reaching a total of 4,95 million tonnes live weight. This is much lower than in previous years, when growth rates were around 10%. The production figures of the ten largest pig farms in the country still showed significant increases. Russian pig farming is therefore becoming increasingly concentrated.

Miratorg remains the largest
Russia's top 10 pork companies jointly produced 2,92 million tons of pork, continuing their upward trend. The market share of those companies has risen to 59,1%. The largest pork producer in Russia remains Miratorg, with a market share of 11,2%. This company produced 555.200 tons of pork last year. The number two in the country recorded an extremely large increase in production: Sibagro managed to increase the volume produced by 42%, to 365.700 tonnes live weight.

According to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, 349 pig farms were affected by African swine fever last year. This also included seventeen large-scale pig farms. In total, about 2020 million pigs were culled in the period from October 2021 to the end of 1, according to the chairman of the Russian pig union.

This means that the African swine fever virus has definitively gained control over the development of Russian pork production. This is a major setback for the sector, which has expressed the ambition to focus on significant growth in its export position in the coming years.