In 2021, meat production may decline for the first time in 15 years.
From January to September, meat production in Russia showed negative dynamics: -0.6%.
This is mainly due to avian influenza, which hit poultry meat production hard.
Strong negative dynamics in poultry: -1.7% compared to the same period last year.
At the same time, the head of the National Meat Association (NMA), Sergei Yushin, notes that in general, everything is in order in the industry.
For example, beef production in the first 10 months of 2021 increased by 5%, pork production by 0.9%. And even more turkeys were produced than a year ago, despite all the difficulties with the bird flu.
According to Rosstat, in 2020 the meat industry in Russia showed exceptionally good results: + 3.1% growth compared to last year.
And if we talk about the volume of production, then an additional 15.6 million tons of meat was produced.
However, the current year may disrupt this dynamic.
What are the main problems of meat producers?
In addition to animal disease, the coronavirus pandemic is also affecting. To combat it, enterprises have to spend additional funds that were not previously budgeted.
For example, introduce a mask mode, measure the temperature of employees at the checkpoint of enterprises, and carry out disinfection.
The shortage of labor in certain regions is also becoming a problem, which is associated with restrictions on population migration.
An even more serious problem is the rise in world prices. It concerns literally everything: logistics (fuel), and animal feed, and packaging.
All this increases production costs and creates difficulties for manufacturers.
The state changes the rules of the game instead of supporting
So far, market participants are optimistic and believe that the problems will be resolved. However, the actions of the state are of concern.
At the moment when it would not be superfluous to support meat producers, it does the opposite thing: it changes the rules of the game in this market.
For example, the Ministry of Agriculture proposed to establish zero import duties for meat next year.
The idea is clear: thanks to imports, the Russian meat market will not experience a shortage of supply. But will local producers be able to compete with foreign ones, won’t production turn out to be unprofitable for them?
«The industry perceives this regulation negatively as extremely untimely, hasty and not based on a calm analysis of demand, supply and production prospects in the coming year,» notes Sergei Yushin.
So it turns out that the actions of one’s own state are one of the main problems in the industry.
