Russian meat imports will fall as demand for foreign meat drops and companies cut back on how much they buy abroad, according to the Russian Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR).
Russia’s meat industry could reap benefits from the extension of its food embargo, which will not directly increase prices on its domestic market, say market participants.
During the first quarter of 2015, Russia produced 1.545 million tonnes (t) of meat, 15.2% more than in the same period last year, according to an official report from the country’s Agricultural Ministry.
Since the beginning of 2014, Russia has reduced imports of meat by 27.1%, excluding imports from Belarus and Kazakhstan, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture has reported, citing data from the Federal Customs Service.
Russia should create a large “cluster” of meat production in the far eastern regions of the country in order to develop meat exports to Asian countries, industry experts have said.
