Making up for a slight reduction in chicken production during the month of September, Russian agrifood company Cherkizovo Group has achieved higher output of turkey and processed meat products. For the company’s pork division, there was a double-digit reduction in liveweight output. These general trends are reflected in the third quarter results for the fiscal year.
For the month of September, Cherkizovo Group reports its production figures at 55,300 metric tons (mt) of chicken, 5,550mt of turkey, and 20,330mt of pig meat. For turkey, the month’s output represents a year-on-year increase of 49%. Meanwhile, chicken volume was down 5%, and pork (in liveweight terms) was 14% lower.
The Group’s Ready to Eat (RTE) meat processing division produced 12,870mt of products, which was 28% above the figure of a year ago.
For Samson Food Products in which Cherkizovo holds a 75% interest, a 2% increase in production brought the monthly output to 2,530mt.
Compared to 12 months previously, the firm achieved price increases — expressed as Russian rubles (RUB) per kilo — of 10-32% for each of its meat businesses.
Third-quarter poultry production trends
Down 2% year-on-year, output by the Group’s chicken operations during the third quarter was hit by a damaging fire at one of its processing plants earlier in the year. Despite this set-back, sales volume for the first nine months of the year was 173,200mt, compared with just under 175,900mt in the same period of 2020. Average sales price for chicken was 28% higher at RUB138.81 (US$1.95) per kilo.
For the July-September period, output by the company’s joint-venture Tambov Turkey were up 51% year-on-year to 15,380mt. At RUB181.68 per kilo, average selling price was 5% higher than at the same point in 2020.
In early July of 2021, fire broke out at the firm’s plant in Altaisky, causing extensive damage. Operations there are scheduled to resume this month, according to the Group.
Production, carcass sales down for the Group’s pork business
Compared to the third quarter of last year, live pork production volume for the past three months was down 17% at 57,840mt. At 12,610mt, external sales of pork carcasses were 47% lower year-on year. However, sales of cuts (9,490mt) and other pork sales (4,250mt) showed year-on-year increases of 3% and 7%, respectively.
At RUB181.72 per kilo, external sales price for pork carcasses had risen 20% over the year, while the “Others” category was up by 22% to RUB64.60. The Group achieved an 11% uplift in average selling price for cuts at RUB248.21 per kilo.
Differences between volumes produced and sold by Cherkizovo’s pork business represent gilt replacements for the breeding herd. Sales cover both intra-company and third-party sales.
Strong growth reported in Processed Meats
Cherkizovo Group’s RTE Meat Processing business grew its sales for the quarter by 25% year-on-year to 36,320mt. Average selling price increased by 22% to RUB230.07 per kilo. According to the company, these improvements were in part driven by the consolidation of recently acquired assets in the Northwestern region of Russia.
Third-quarter production by the Samson Foods group was 8,040mt. This represents a slight fall in output compared to the same period of 2020. However, the average selling price for this business was 12% higher year-on-year at RUB232.16 per kilo.
More on Cherkizovo Group
With annual slaughterings of more than 322 million birds, Cherkizovo Group in among the leading European producers in WATTPoultry.com’s Top Poultry Companies database.
By 2019, Moscow-based Cherkizovo Group had become the largest broiler producer in Russia — at least in part due to the opening up of the Chinese markets to Russian poultry meat imports.
For the first six months of the fiscal year, Cherkizovo Group reported double-digit increases in overall sales and revenue, as well as for the majority of its meat business segments. At the same time, the firm announced its intentions to invest heavily in output expansion, and to pursue export opportunities.
