Atria's Q2 profit slides

Meat producer Atria saw its profit in Q2 this year decline to 4.1 million euros (4.7 million U.S. dollars), compared with 5.1 million euros in the same period in 2019, said the company in its report on Friday.

The turnover of Q2 was 366 million euros, slightly down from the 368 million turnover of the same period last year, according to the report, reported Xinhua.

Juha Grohn, CEO of Atria, noted in a media release on Friday that households stocked up the supplies of meat productions at the end of March, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard, but the demand levelled off quickly in April with sales over Easter lower than normal.

Grohn noted that the volume of pork exports to China in Q2 has been better than expected, but the price level in the Chinese markets decreased.

In Atria's home markets, net sales in Finland, Estonia and Denmark grew, while in Sweden and Russia weakened, showed the report.

On Thursday, HKScan, the other Finland-based international meat producer, also noted that its export volumes to China had clearly increased in Q2.

Tero Hemmila, CEO of HKScan, noted that despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the company's export volumes to China almost reached the level planned in advance.

"Meat prices in Europe are significantly dependent on the development of Asian export markets. Changes in Asia are rapidly reflected in Europe and our home markets," Hemmila said. He predicted that volatility on the international meat market is expected to continue in the rest of the year.

Looking towards future trends, Grohn of Atria noted in the media release that the consumption of poultry meat is expected to continue to increase, while the consumption of red meat is expected to decline slightly.