IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russian oil meal consumption will rise by nearly 50% over the next four years on the back of an expected boom in the local swine industry

Public Ledger

October 2006. Public Ledger. Russian oil meal consumption will rise by nearly 50% over the next four years on the back of an expected boom in the local swine industry, according to new research from the Institute of Agricultural Research (IKAR) in Moscow.

General director of IKAR, Dmitry Rylko, told a Moscow audience last month that Russian swine production would rise by a third by 2010, triggering greater demand for feedstocks, including sunflower and soya meal, as well as grains.

According to figures from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Russian soya and sunflower meal consumption totalled 2.1 million tonnes in 2004-2005, the latest available figures. Rylko said oil meal consumption would rise by 900,000 tonnes by 2010.

Rylko told the audience that fat margins in swine production is beginning to entice a range of private companies to invest into the sector. These include integrated meat producer Cherkizo Group, which is spending $355 million by 2010 to expand its pork production capacity to 88,000 tonnes per annum.

He said margins in swine production are rising because of a range of factors, including the new import barriers introduced last year, changing tastes among Russian meat eaters, and the “continued implosion of the domestic beef industry”. Per capita pork consumption is forecast to increase to 22 kg per annum by 2010, from 16 kg per annum currently.

This growth is already leading to higher levels of demand for sunflower meal, and especially soya meal. Analysts believe much of the increased consumption of soya and sunflower will be met by local producers.

“The effect is going to be substantial on the feed industry, but we shouldn’t overestimate it too much,” Rylko said.

While the new money being invested into swine facilities will boost demand for feed, modern technologies and western techniques will ensure feeds are used more efficiently, lowering the benefit for oil meal producers.

03.11.06

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