Russia’s poultry crisis shows that with few alternative sources to imported feed additives, incubators, packaging and labels. The Russian poultry industry has been hit hard by sanctions.

Post-Soviet Russia was initially a net importer of poultry, but developed a viable domestic poultry industry and has been able to expand into untapped areas such as turkey and duck meat. In 2018, the country became fully self-sufficient in staple foods, including poultry and eggs.

In 2019, the Russian poultry market rapidly consolidated ahead of the opening of the lucrative export market to China. However, after the invasion of Ukraine, Russian poultry farmers are facing some problems with the supply of hatching eggs, as Russia relies heavily on imported hatching eggs.

Another big issue is breeding livestock, as logistics have to be diverted to China, India, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil. Next year, Russia plans to set up a new breeding center focused on Smena-9 hybrids, partly reducing the poultry industry’s dependence on imported genes.

Russian poultry farmers also need to overcome their dependence on imported equipment and it is estimated that up to 80% of the equipment installed on Russian poultry farms is imported. Most of the devices have been installed in the last 5-6 years, so the impact will be delayed.

On the consumer side, lower purchasing power and higher inflation should reduce protein consumption.

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Source: Intellinews