11 Aug 2010 13:31

Cherkizovo ups poultry meat sales 8% in H1

MOSCOW. Aug 11 (Interfax) - The Cherkizovo group, one of Russia's leading meat and meat-product outfits, increased poultry meat sales 8% to 99,860 tonnes in the first half, the company said in a statement.

Pork production was up 75% at 37,160 tonnes. The company processed 8% more meat during the half - 66,200 tonnes in all.

The average poultry-meat price rose 5% to $2.30 per kilo in H1 from $2.19 in H1 2009 (not counting VAT). In rubles, the price was down 4% year-on-year at 69.11 rubles from 72.32 rubles. This, the company said, reflects a return to normal pricing from usually high prices in 2009.

Cherkizovo attributed the surge in pork output to the group's modern hog farms getting fully up to production speed. The average pork price was also up 5% at $2.40 per kilo (live weight) from $2.28 in H1 2009 (not counting VAT). In rubles, that was also a 4% decrease year-on-year - to 72.07 rubles per kilo from 75.41 rubles in H1 2009.

Pricing remains stable into the third quarter, and the company expects that to persist until year-end, Cherkizovo said.

As for meat-processing, the group's average product sale price was up 13% at $3.81 per kilo from $3.37 in H1 2009 (not counting VAT). The average price in rubles was up 3% at 114.66 rubles per kilo (excluding VAT) from 111.42 rubles in the first half of last year.