Russian poultry producers and retailers have entered into an agreement under which producers will temporarily freeze wholesale prices and set sales levels no lower than last year. This is reported by “Kommersant” with reference to the source.
So, the term of the informal agreement is calculated for three weeks. The agreement was attended by the National Union of Poultry Farmers (Cherkizovo, Prodo, GAP Resource) and the Association of Retail Companies (X5 Retail Group, Magnit, Auchan). The price per kilogram of chicken carcass was fixed at 145 rubles.
It is noted that such measures were taken due to the growth in demand for broilers amid a decline in production. Thus, in early 2021, purchasing interest in poultry meat increased by 10-20 percent, while production decreased by 6.4 percent due to higher egg prices, supply disruptions, bird flu and other factors.
According to one of the newspaper’s sources, due to a shortage of raw materials, meat processing plants will buy more expensive meat and reduce the output of products in a low price category.
The National Union of Poultry Farmers disowned the agreement, and retail chains, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade did not comment on the situation. At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture noted that they had not received information about the agreement, but confirmed the existence of an imbalance between supply and demand.
Earlier, Russian poultry farmers complained about a shortage of hatching eggs, which could lead to a reduction in production and an increase in prices for finished products. It is associated with outbreaks of avian influenza in several countries, as well as increased prices for feed and lysine.