Avangard agricultural holding, the largest egg producer in Ukraine, cut monthly production by 50% over the past year due to pressure from law enforcement officers, largely due to the impossibility of organizing the export of its products in such conditions, owner of the agricultural holding Oleh Bakhmatiuk has said. “We now produce 170 million eggs a month, and we produced about 300 million, and in May – 350 million! Of which 170 million were exported in May, and this month we will send for export, maybe 20 million,” he said is in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
Bakhmatiuk explained that the company used credit lines for $ 60-70 million for export, since delivery, for example, to Singapore takes 45 days and the supplier needs to be granted a delay.
“But thanks to the valiant actions of the NABU (the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine), all credit lines were closed to us, we were forced to almost completely close the export direction,” the Avangard owner said, adding that the coronavirus pandemic complicated logistics by making it longer and 30% more expensive.
According to him, out of seven trading houses – in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Iraq, Liberia, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, the opening of which took six years and about $ 25-30 million, Avangard retained only one – in Dubai.
Talking about other reasons for the reduction in production, Bakhmatiuk named a painful rise in the price of raw materials, in particular, fat and oil, bagasse and cereals, common for the entire sector.
“This reputational war has been added to the general problems of the sector. In fact, 12 poultry farms have been closed, now the 13th will be closed,” he said, adding that there are 13 operating factories left.
As the businessman noted, such a reduction in production, taking into account fixed costs, led to an increase in the cost of an egg by about 20 kopecks.
Commenting on the rise in egg prices in Ukraine, he called it forced.
“We go to zero profitability and even with a small minus. Because feed prices are growing faster than the demand and the price of eggs are growing,” the businessman explained.
Ovostar Union, a vertically integrated holding company, one of the leading egg and egg products producer in Ukraine, in January-September 2020 cut shell egg sales by 10.5% year-over-year, to 795 million. Lower sales volume is accounted for by reduction of trading activities in the reporting period.
According to a company report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) last week, egg production grew by 3.8%, to 1.236 billion. Export of eggs fell by 41.2%, to 266 million eggs. The share of export of total sales was 34% versus 50% a year ago. Average price of eggs fell by 8%, to $0.056 per egg.
The group said that in January-September 2020, 433 million eggs were processed. The output of dry and liquid egg products was 2,597 tonnes (a rise of 19%) and 9,983 tonnes (a fall of 5%).
Sales volume of dry egg products grew by 39%, to 2,417 tonnes, including 71% was exported. Liquid egg products sales fell by 7%, to 9,692 tonnes, including 36% exported.
Average selling price of dry egg products fell by 8% to $4.05 per kg, and average selling price of liquid egg products decreased 16%, to $1.19 per kg.
As of 30 September 2020 total flock of the company was 8.1 million heads demonstrating 3% increase year-over-year. The laying flock grew by 3% year-over-year and reached 6.9 million heads.
“It is worth saying that during the nine months of the year the company has been quite successful in responding to the challenges related the COVID-19 pandemic and unfavorable macroeconomic environment. We have managed to minimize negative effects on the group’s operations and to increase production volumes. In general, the management finds the operational results for the reporting period satisfactory,” CEO Borys Bielikov said.
Milk production in Ukraine in January-August 2020 (excluding the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, Sevastopol, the JFO zone) decreased by 0.2% compared to the same period in 2019, to 6.46 million tonnes.
According to the State Statistics Service, 2.15 million tonnes of meat (in live weight) were produced in the first eight months of this year, which is 0.2% less than in January-August of the previous year.
Egg production in January-August 2020 decreased by 0.9%, to 11.54 billion eggs.
Gallusman, one of Ovostar Union companies, plans to begin the construction of an egg production complex in Latvia in partnership with the energy company ADVEN in 2021, the project is currently at the stage of assessing potential environmental impacts. According to Ovostar, it is expected that the new production complex will export up to 90% of its products. Another Latvian subsidiary of Ovostar, Ovostar Europe, which since 2015 has been cooperating with the group’s trading partners in the EU countries, will be engaged in export sales. The goal of Ovostar is to enter new markets in Europe and the Middle East.
“Today, the project is at the stage of assessing the potential impact of the new production on the environment. The examination should be completed before the end of this year, and the start of construction work is scheduled for 2021,” the company noted.
It is projected to bring about EUR 100 million investment and 200 new jobs to the Latvian economy.
Ovostar reported that Gallusman and ADVEN had already signed a letter of intent. The partnership of the companies is aimed at finding the best energy and infrastructure solutions for the egg production complex to achieve non-waste production.
“Upon completion of the project, Gallusman will become a leader in the poultry industry and animal feed trade in Latvia, as well as the largest producer of eggs and egg products in Northern Europe,” Ovostar said.
Gallusman is part of the Ovostar Union group. Ovostar Union, one of the leading Ukrainian agricultural holdings, is one of the largest egg producers in Europe. The business model of the company is built on the principle of a full production cycle.
BUILD, EGG, LATVIA, OVOSTAR, PRODUCTION
Ovostar Union, a leading egg producer in Ukraine, cut egg sales by 17% in 2019, to 1.147 billion eggs.
According to a company report on its website, egg production last year fell by 2.35, to 1.587 billion. The share of exported eggs of total sales grew by 4 percentage points in 2019, to 46%, and exports totaled 525 million eggs compared with 587 million in 2018.
“The decrease of shell eggs sales is accounted for by the significant reduction of trading operations in 2019. Average price of eggs in UAH terms fell by 12% y-o-y and reached UAH 1.606/egg, while in U.S. dollar terms the decrease was 7% y-o-y and the price for the year was $0.062/egg (2018: UAH 1.819/egg or $0.067/egg respectively),” the company said.
In 2019 the volume of eggs processed was 577 million, which by 9% exceeds the level of the previous year.
The volume of dry egg products output grew slightly y-o-y and reached 2,969 tonnes. The output of liquid egg products increased by 12% y-o-y up to 13,904 tonnes.
Ovostar Union agricultural group of companies, one of the leading producers of eggs in Ukraine, in January-September 2019 reduced egg sales by 15.9% compared to the same period in 2018, to 888 million pieces, due to a decrease in trading activity.
According to the group’s report on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, egg production during this period declined by 0.9%, to 1.191 billion pieces.
Egg exports for the nine months of this year were down by 0.7%, to 440 million eggs. The share of exports in the total volume of egg sales was 50% compared to 42% for the same period in 2018.
