OREANDA-NEWS  A sharp decline in the wholesale cost of raw milk is fraught with problems for producers and ultimately a reduction in production. Vedomosti writes about this with reference to top managers of companies present on the market.

According to one of the interlocutors of the publication, in March 2023, compared with December and January, prices decreased by 5-6 rubles. Another pointed out that since the beginning of the year, raw milk has fallen in price by 15 percent, to 32-33 rubles per kilogram.

A representative of one of the manufacturers complained that trading has to be on the verge of profitability. Olga Bashmachnikova, Vice-president of the Association of Peasant Farms and Agricultural Cooperatives of Russia, warned that the situation could lead to the bankruptcy of individual farms, since a drop in income would be critical for them.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) confirmed that they had received appeals from many regions about price pressure from processors. Currently, the territorial authorities of the department are analyzing the information.

In turn, processors explain the fall in prices by overproduction. According to the top manager of one agro-industrial group, at the beginning of 2023, the surplus in the market was 1.7-2 million tons, factories cannot process such a volume.