Russia Cranks Up Poultry Production

As part of the country's drive to be self-sufficient in poultry production by 2012, Russian poultry giant Prioskoil says it plans to increase production to 300,000mt of poultry by the end of 2009, a 50% increase on the 200,000mt the company produced in 2008.

Capacity at the company's two plants will increase in total to 350,000mt they say.

Prioskoil is the largest complete poultry enterprise in Russia, and also produces 180 million hatching eggs per year.

Russia recently announced cuts to it's poultry import quota of 300,000 in 2009.

With the nature of Russia's relatively unsophisticated and inefficient livestock sector, this expansion will utilise more grain within Russia than if meat was imported from the West.