Brazilian pork exports to Russia resume

Russia once again opens its market to Brazil’s pork producers. Brazilian companies lost trading permissions to Russia last year due to serious disputes between the veterinary services of the two countries.

In April, Russia imported about 29.2% of its total pork import from Brazil, but in general April’s pork exports from Brazil fell by 6.3% in volume and 13.9% in revenue, according to data released by the Brazilian pork industry and exporters association (ABIPECS).

The growth of sales in the Russian market has been due to the permissions that Russian authorities granted to four new Brazilian meat processing plants. They were accredited for the supply of pork to Russia in April. However, problems with the Russian market are far from finished, Brazilian pork exports to Russian were 55.6% lower in the Q1: 2012 compared to Q1:2011, according to ABIPECS.

The head of Russian Rosselhoznadzor, Sergei Dankvert, has said that there are still a lot of veterinary rule violations by Brazilian pork manufactures. And with Russian accession to the WTO, Russian pork quality standards will be significantly increased.

In April, pork exports from Brazil reached 47,700 tonnes worth US$125.2 million. Average prices for Brazilian pork in April compared to March fell by 2.5%, prices of pork cuts by 4.3%. According to Russian analytical agency Imit the reviving pork exports from Brazil significantly dampen the growth of prices on the domestic market. During February-April, prices in Russia grew by 3%, while without Brazilian contributions it is estimated to have been equal to 7-8% on average.

Source: Vladislav Vorotnikov