Ukraine-Meat production for 2009.
Meat production in Ukraine in 2009 could be 1.617 million tonnes in slaughter weight against 1.62 million tonnes in 2008, according to an expert of the Ukrainian Club for Agrarian Business, Elizaveta Sviatkivska.
She said at a conference devoted to the meat market and new challenges in it, which was held in Kyiv on Monday, that a considerable fall in imports and exports of meat is expected.
In particular, she said that Ukraine this year could import 230,000 tonne of meat, against 512,000 tonnes in 2008, and export 20,000 tonnes against 30,000 tonnes last year.
The expert said that the data on meat production, exports and imports for 2008 are tentative, and they could be altered. She also said that the information on imports is official, while according to the evaluations of the club the actual figures are larger.
The association said that in 2008, meat imports to the country totaled 532,000 tonnes, while in 2009 they would be around 280,000 tonnes.
Sviatkivska said that this year, one could expect the retaining of poultry production, although the beef market would slump. She said that poultry farms would manage to retain production growth thanks to a more attractive price compared to other meat products and thanks to the active promotion of poultry products to the foreign markets.
The expert said that domestic meat consumption in Ukraine would fall from 2 million tonnes last year to 1.91 million tonnes in 2009 due to the downturn.
She said that now a fall in meat consumption is seen, which has led to the closure of some meat processing companies.
Sviatkivska said that this year one should expect a plunge in the number of small and medium meat processing companies.
She said that large meat processors would have to cut production due to a fall in demand for their products.
Commenting on the price situation on the market, the expert said that at present a slight fall in prices is seen due to the resumption of meat imports.
She said that the presence of illegal low-quality meat producers would grow this year.
Ukraine-Meat production for 2009.
