Moreover, the beginning of the 17/18 season coincided with the oversupply of grain on the market, a crop that was a record in modern history of the Russian crop. This naturally affected the segment of the protein components of the meal and cake which are 70% sold on the domestic market. High security animal breeders cheap grains in conjunction with weak export demand led to a surplus of products on the market. As a result of the fall of prices for sunflower meal in the fall of 2017 to 7 000 – 7 500 RUB/t with VAT, which was not observed since the beginning of 2014.

However, since the end of 2017, prices for meal and oil-cake began to recover due to several factors:

• since November, recovering export demand, shipments from Russia in recent months are on the same level as last year;
• in the 1st quarter of 2018 has increased dramatically world quotes all the protein components as a reaction to an expected drop in soybean crop in Argentina (major soybean meal exporter in the world) due to severe drought;
• from December 2017, reduces the security of the Russian mills with raw materials, primarily small and medium, which consequently reduces the volume of supply on the market.

For the first 3 months of 2018, prices for sunflower meal and oil cake soared by almost 2 times and at the end of March reach 13 500 – 14 000 rubles/ton with VAT. The current level was a record high over the last 3 seasons. Among the above factors, the greatest impact has been precisely the argument of low load plants and limited supplies. This factor a year ago, "knocked" the price to 9 000 rubles/ton on the background of excess savings, although the export parity was higher.

Further dynamics of the prices for meal and oil-cake will depend on the world market (the price of the meal and of the dollar) and the rate of decline download plants. However, it is possible to assert with confidence that a trend reversal in the price conjuncture up to the end of the season is not expected.

For livestock farmers this means higher production costs, which in conditions of the saturated market of poultry meat and pork, and eggs will provide the high pressure to the outsiders of the market. The second half of the season 17/18 MG promises to be challenging for the Russian livestock industry.