Russia's Cherkizovo profit up, faces challenges

* Says nine-month net income up 26 pct to $104.4 mln

* Sees challenging year ahead for global grain supplies

* Meat sale prices likely to be lower on over supply

(Adds CEO comment, detail)

MOSCOW, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Russia's biggest meat producer Cherkizovo said it expects meat prices to fall over the turn of the year as grain shortages cause producers to slaughter more livestock, creating an oversupply.

"We are now witnessing a slight oversupply of meat in the market ... this puts a downward pressure on selling prices, especially for poultry sales," Chief Executive Sergey Mikhailov said in a statement.

He added that the company expected "a rather challenging year" for grain supplies -- used by the company as animal feed.

He said the problem would be particularly pronounced in Russia, where the country's worst heatwave on record destroyed crops during summer 2010.

Cherkizovo said net income for the nine months to end September rose 26 percent to $104.4 million, partly on increased production capacity and new farms, while revenues were up 20 percent at $877.7 million.

Cherkizovo shares opened 0.5 percent higher in Moscow, in line with the wider market. ($1=31.10 Rouble)