Russia increasing poultry meat exports to Africa - poultry union

MOSCOW. Nov 21 (Interfax) - Russian poultry companies are increasing shipments of poultry meat to African countries, Sergei Lakhtyukhov, General Director of the National Union of Poultry Farmers, said at the Export Guides 2023: New Markets and Opportunities conference, organized by the Agroexport Center under the Ministry of Agriculture.

"Several years ago, we began to actively export to African countries. Today, for example, significant shipments of turkey go to Benin and the Congo. And the shipment volumes are not just one-offs, and the transactions are not just one-offs; the volumes of these shipments actually number in the thousands of tonnes," he said.

There are prospects for expanding the export of poultry products to Saudi Arabia; not only poultry meat, but also eggs, Lakhtyukhov said. "Last year, by the way, shipments of eggs began to some countries of the Persian Gulf," he noted.

He said that last year, exports of poultry meat exceeded 350,000 tonnes. According to the presentation, its value was $822 million. Total exports of meat products reached 557,000 tonnes (USD $1.438 billion) against 533,000 tonnes (USD $1.166 billion) in 2021.

China became the main buyer of Russian poultry products in 2022, with a value of $523 million.