Summary
MHP has succeeded in purchasing a third EU based poultry company, the Slovenian meat processor Perutnina Ptuj. This needs to be seen in the context of concerns that Ukrainian raised poultry processed in the EU is giving rise to exports of poultry parts which are being mislabelled as EU raised poultry. This could potentially undermine effective SPS controls for Avian Influenza in ACP countries. It is essential all EU exports of poultry parts are properly labelled on the basis of the country of origin of the bird from which the poultry parts were derived.
Having lost an earlier corporate battle to acquire the French poultry producer Doux and having been rebuffed elsewhere, in September 2018 it was announced the Ukrainian food and poultry sector company MHP has purchased the Slovenian meat processor Perutnina Ptuj (see companion epamonitoring.net article, ‘Ukrainian Poultry Firm Loses Out in Battle for Doux but Continues Quest for EU Expansion’, 21 June 2018).
Perutnina Ptuj ‘has a strong brand and significant share of poultry value-added products’ in the Slovenian market. MHP sees its investment as bringing ‘direct benefits to local farmers and employees as well as have a positive impact on the poultry industry in the Balkan’s region in general’. This purchase adds to MHPs existing corporate holdings inside the EU, where it has subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Slovakia (1).
This needs to be seen in a context where from 2014 to 2017 Ukrainian poultry meat exports to the EU increased fourfold (from 19,958 tonnes to 80,083 tonnes), with a further 75% increase from January to July 2018 compared to the corresponding period in 2017. The bulk of these Ukrainian exports go to the Netherlands (almost 2/3), 1/8 goes to Slovakia, with 13% to Germany, 6% to Romania, 4% to Poland, with very small volumes being exported to four other EU member states (3).
In 2017 Ukraine accounted for 9.9% of total EU poultry meat imports, with this increasing to 16.5% in the period from January to July 2018 (2).
It should be noted that the Ukraine is also an important market for EU poultry meat exports, with Ukraine taking 163,057 tonnes of extra-EU poultry meat exports in 2017 (9.9% of total extra-EU exports) up from 80,084 tonnes in 2014 (5.3%). EU exports increased a further 29% from January to July 2018 compared to the corresponding period in 2017 (2).
Thus while EU poultry meat imports form the Ukraine continue to increase, the EU still has a net trade surplus with the Ukraine in poultry meat (2), with these EU exports consisting largely of frozen boneless cuts.
MHP is increasingly focussed on exports, which rose 2% year to year to June 2018. With the EU, Africa, Asia and the Middle East and North Africa the main export market. In the first half of 2018 MHP’s exports increased 9% compared to the same period in 2017 (to 133,564 tonnes up from 123,042 tonnes) (4).
| Comment and Analysis There remain on-going concerns over the export of Ukrainian whole birds to EU member states facilities where they are processed. This is giving rise to the re-export of poultry parts which although derived from Ukrainian raised poultry are classified as EU poultry parts for export purposes. Given the regular outbreak of Avian Influenza in different parts of the EU and in neighbouring states such as Ukraine, this mislabelling of Ukrainian derived poultry parts as EU raised poultry meat potentially raises serious SPS concerns (see companion epamonitoring.net article ‘Growing Role of Ukraine in EU Poultry Meat Imports Raises Rules of Origin and SPS issues in EU Poultry Meat Export Trade’, 22 January 2018).In regard to poultry meat imports to ACP countries from the EU, it would appear essential these imports are properly labelled with reference to where the birds were raised, in order to ensure SPS controls can be effectively enforced in the face of the geographical pattern of outbreaks of HPAI strains across the European continent. |
Source:
(1) Globalmeatnews.com, ‘Ukrainian poultry producer MHP has announced that it is seeking to acquire meat processor Perutnina Ptuj’, 25 September 2018
https://www.globalmeatnews.com/Article/2018/09/25/MHP-plans-to-acquire-Perutnina-Ptuj
(2) EC, ‘EU Market Situation for Poultry Committee for the Common Organisation of the Agricultural Markets’, 20 September 2018
https://circabc.europa.eu/sd/a/cdd4ea97-73c6-4dce-9b01-ec4fdf4027f9/24.08.2017-Poultry.pptfinal.pdf
(3) EC Market Access Data Base
http://madb.europa.eu/madb/statistical_form.htm
(4) Globalmeatnews.com, ‘Exports boost MHP volume sales’ 18 July 2018
https://www.globalmeatnews.com/Article/2018/07/18/Rising-exports-helps-MHP-grow-value-sales