Russian Agriculture News

Russian dairy exports soar, 01.25.2024.

Domestically made goods in the segment are now sold to 60 countries.

Russia’s exports of dairy products increased by 18% year-on-year in 2023, the head of the National Union of Dairy Producers, Artyom Belov, said on Monday, as cited by TASS.

”The growth of consumption and exports has become a major driver for the domestic market over the past several years, particularly in 2023,” Belov said, adding that “consumption rose by nearly 5% versus 2022.”

He added that Russia had begun exporting the types of dairy products for which demand is high globally, including those considering dairy commodities. “For example, exports of powdered skim milk saw a nearly fivefold growth, while suppliers of powdered whey almost tripled,” Belov explained.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Skvortsov, the head of food and processing at the Russian Agriculture Ministry, said that Russian dairy products are now sold to around 60 countries and that almost three-quarters of domestic enterprises export their output.

”Traditionally, Russia sells dairy products to the CIS states and former Soviet countries,” Skvortsov said, adding that the latter category has seen a strong expansion.

He also mentioned that Russian producers had started exporting products to Algeria, the world’s second-biggest consumer of dairy.

Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev recently noted that raw milk production in the country has been growing over the past five years, adding that it reached 33.5 million metric tons in 2023, nearly 0.5 million metric tons more than during the previous year.

https://www.rt.com/business/591141-russia-dairy-exports-surge/

Russia’s earnings from food exports hit record high – minister, 01.26.2024.

The country’s revenues from the sector exceeded $45 billion in 2023, preliminary data shows.

Russia raked in record earnings from agricultural exports last year, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev has announced, citing preliminary estimates.

Speaking at a ministerial meeting on Wednesday, Patrushev said that cross-border sales of agricultural goods brought Moscow more than $45 billion in 2023. He noted that the figure is likely to rise once final calculations are made.

“The production indicators have allowed Russia to reaffirm its status as a net exporter of agricultural products,” the ministry’s press service cited Patrushev as saying.

The minister noted that Russia’s grain harvest amounted to 147 million tons last year, just short of the 157 million record reached in 2022. Milk production increased by 500,000 tons, and meat production surged by 300,000 tons. Fish production was the highest in 30 years, at 5.3 million tons. Output of salmon was particularly high at over 600,000 tons, making Russia the world's top salmon producer, according to the minister.

The Agriculture Ministry earlier estimated that Russia’s grain for export this growing season totaled 60 million tons. The country has been the world’s largest exporter of grain in recent years thanks to bumper harvests and attractive pricing, despite Western sanctions that have hampered the country’s foreign trade. Russia has also been supplying free grain to a number of African countries that are facing food insecurity.

The ministry has not yet published data on the geographical breakdown of Russia’s agricultural exports in 2023. In 2022, the top destinations were China, Türkiye, the EU, Kazakhstan, Belarus, South Korea, and Egypt.

https://www.rt.com/business/591272-russias-earnings-food-exports/

The West fears Russia's food monopoly, by Gleb Prostakov for VZGLYAD. 01.27.2024.

Ukrainian black soils are perhaps the most valuable thing that the country now has against the backdrop of the destruction of a significant part of industry and infrastructure during military operations. Russia's share in global grain exports is at 20%. To increase this share to 30%, Russia needs to take control of at least the entire eastern part of Ukraine.

Perhaps, after a while, a resourceful historiographer, talking about military operations in Ukraine, will call them “a battle against three corporations.” Cargill, Dupont and Monsanto, headquartered in the United States, directly and indirectly control a significant part of Ukrainian agricultural land. And when Trump supporters accuse current President Biden that American foreign policy in Ukraine is not based on economic interests, they are openly disingenuous. There is such interest - and this is Ukrainian black soil.

The other day, the French Foreign Ministry made an interesting statement, linking in one sentence a possible military defeat of Ukraine with Russia’s seizure of control over the world grain market. The recently appointed French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejournet said that Russia could take control of 30% of world wheat exports in the event of Ukraine's defeat . In this case, the French minister probably simply acted as a speaker on behalf of the main owners of Ukrainian black soil, among which French companies, in particular AgroGeneration, do not occupy a leading role.

Ukrainian black soils are perhaps the most valuable thing that the country now has against the backdrop of the destruction of a significant part of industry and infrastructure during military operations. Ukraine's fertile soils account for 9% of the world's black soil reserves and 30% of European reserves, covering almost 50% of the country's territory.

In 2020, President Zelensky signed a scandalous law on the agricultural land market, according to which the latter became a commodity. For many years before this, a moratorium on the purchase and sale of agricultural land was in effect in Ukraine and was repeatedly extended. With the adoption of the law, a start was given - albeit with some restrictions - to the concentration of land in the hands of large Ukrainian agricultural oligarchs, including Myronivsky Hliboproduct of Yuriy Kosyuk, Kernel of Vladimir Verevsky, Ukrlandfarming of Oleg Bakhmatyuk and others.

For the first three years, the law acted primarily in favor of local large businesses. Despite the formal ban on the purchase of land by legal entities, there were loopholes that allowed this to be done at low cost. For example, exceptions were made for companies leasing land for at least three years. It is clear that it was Ukrainian agricultural holdings that acted as such tenants and, accordingly, received a priority right to purchase.

In turn, Ukrainian landlords, de facto, acted as piglets for slaughter. They fed well and grew in land banks with one goal - to sell themselves at a higher price to foreign giants of agribusiness - the already mentioned Cargill, Dupont, Monsanto, behind which, in turn, loom the largest financial holdings, primarily Blackrock and Vanguard. Ukrainian companies actively launched IPOs or directly sold shares to foreigners.

In 2022, the Australian National Review reported that the three corporations mentioned had purchased 17 million of the 62 million hectares of Ukrainian agricultural land, that is, almost a third of all arable land. There is less arable land in all of Italy than was purchased by foreigners in Ukraine.

France's panicky statements about a possible loss of control over the grain market did not appear by chance. Political competition and public pressure, however, forced Zelensky to delay the entry into force of the main provisions of the law on the land market. And on January 1, 2024, the last restrictions were lifted. Loopholes are no longer needed - legal entities have the right to buy agricultural land. The limits of plots for sale have been increased from 100 to 10 thousand hectares.

The emerging opportunities to complete the absorption of Ukrainian lands by foreign capital were significantly complicated by the risks from the special operation carried out by Russia in Ukraine. If you look at the map of Ukrainian black soils, we will find that the most fertile lands are located in the southern and central parts of Ukraine, including in the lands that became part of Russia - Zaporozhye, Kherson regions, Donetsk People's Republic. The most fertile chernozems are also located in Odessa, Poltava, Vinnitsa, Kirovograd, and Kharkov regions.

Another important point. Owning land without access to the Black Sea coast and port facilities of Odessa and Nikolaev is meaningless. In this sense, Odessa, mentioned more than once by Vladimir Putin as a native Russian city, becomes the Alpha and Omega of resolving the issue of power and property in Ukraine.

Ukraine, like Russia, is one of the five largest producers and exporters of grain. Russia is number one, Ukraine is in fifth place. Russia's share in global grain exports is at 20%. To bring this share to 30%, according to the head of the French Foreign Ministry, Russia needs to take control of at least the entire eastern part of Ukraine, as well as the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev. Apparently, Paris takes this prospect quite seriously.

If this forecast comes true, Moscow will receive an instrument of influence on the world economy even more powerful than oil and gas. By controlling the production and export of grain in the Black Sea region, Russia will become a key supplier of food to the world market, and will itself be able to impose sanctions on the supply of key raw materials against unfriendly states.

https://vz.ru/opinions/2024/1/27/1250238.html

If this forecast comes true, Moscow will receive an instrument of influence on the world economy even more powerful than oil and gas. By controlling the production and export of grain in the Black Sea region, Russia will become a key supplier of food to the world market, and will itself be able to impose sanctions on the supply of key raw materials against unfriendly states.

Russia has not used oil or gas supplies as a weapon and has supplied grain and food to poor countries for FREE.

Suggesting Russia would use food as a weapon mistakes Russia for being like the west.... evil greedy bastards... the west doesn't give a shit about Russia starving third world countries, or any country, what pisses them off is if Russia takes that territory and those ports then that reduces the wests ability to use that food potential as a weapon against the rest of the world... it weakens the ability of the west to be a bully and make threats to get its way in all things.

How quickly these clowns forget that Russia as part of the USSR was a big grain importer in the 1980s and running into the 1990s. Now it is painted
as a threat because it has a surplus it can export.

These NATzO f*cks are a special kind of hater retard. Basic economics dictates that Russia's new supply of grain on the market since the 1990s
has helped keep global grain prices low and affordable for most the planet. This is supposed to be a "threat". The same as Russia controlling
its own Arctic waters and shelf resources.

Russia doesn't need Ukraine to gain more grain export. That is so dumb. There are so many kinds of grains they can grow in the land they have now. Russia still barely utilizes their land for more food development. Hence why they rent out land to China, NK and others.

I know people aren't smart and can't figure this out, but seriously.

GarryB wrote:
Russia has not used oil or gas supplies as a weapon and has supplied grain and food to poor countries for FREE.

Yet it hasn't stopped the western delusional propaganda claiming them of doing so.
You should separate the difference in reality versus the meta world they are building.
Russia has a great potential in food production as it is, and at the end of the absorption of Ukro remains it will be surely the worlds bigger food producer.
Any "western" hegemony would benefit from the position just as it is, on the spot.
That is why they claim the same for Russkie, no matter if there is a single reason for that.

They have been suffering from Wrongthink and YesManism for a few decades now and where has it gotten them?

When they keep it up, even as things are falling around them, I can't see them lasting even one more decade... and honestly I don't care.

The majority of the people of the west are happy to think what their governments and biggest richest companies tell them via their free independent media, and any dissenting view is at best a putin puppet, or at worst a traitor like Assange or Snowden or Manning.

It is ironic that Chelsea Manning should be a postergirl for doing the right thing and exposing the truth.... remember there are only two tennants in the American code of conduct.... truth and justice... and neither was applied. The person revealing the criminal activity of the US government was silenced and put in prison while those committing those criminal acts continue to this day and go unpunished... and the truth is covered up by the western independent media... because they are not independent nor free... which means the people of the west are not free because they never get all the facts... in fact they are wound up like a suicide bomber and pushed towards the enemy, whether that be the Russians or Muslims or anything else at that time.

I am not a Jehovahs witness... it is not my job to go door to door saving souls. Let the people of the west enjoy their holy crusade against Russians (the wrong christian) and Chinese (heathen unbelievers) and Palestinians (Killed less jews than the Germans did, but still the bad guys).

But that is a trend isn't it... Poland will never forget what stalin did to their officers, but Stephan who? The numbers are rather clear, but the attitude is different and does not reflect reality...

GarryB wrote:

But that is a trend isn't it... Poland will never forget what stalin did to their officers, but Stephan who? The numbers are rather clear, but the attitude is different and does not reflect reality...

Poland has a strange habit of messianism, and that is a whole constructed problem.
Kids are being taught using romantic literature created in the XIX century that builds this myth. Of us being somehow in a worse condition rather than any others.
While tons of European countries did not exist at the very same moment in history, and the continent was being reconstructed after Napoleon's lost crusades.
Which Poles took a part of as invaders, from Spain through Haiti, Madagascar and Russia.
Katyn mass murder was a cynical and cruel crime committed on POW.
But as for most of the cases in history, there are multiple shades of the case, starting with a fact that in general, Russians have hardly anything to do with it. Order was given by Stalin who was Georgian. Voroshilov who cosigned the document was Ukrainian. Mikoyan was Armenian. Kaganovich was a Jew. Kalinin and Molotov were Russians indeed, but as the act was orchestrated by Stalin's direct order, it was him to blame, right?
So why is Polish rage so much selective in targeting only one nationality for the crime?
A newly established Russian entity post-1991 accepted it's responsibility for it, as a matter of legal succession of the Soviet Union. Gave a clear declaration of it being a crime, and formally apologized for it. Not once, not twice, but several times, on the highest level by both Jeltsin and Putin.
Neither Georgia, nor Armenia, nor Ukraine did so.
Some studies of Stalin's personal life and character suggest the whole crime was driven by his very own feeling of rage against the Soviet POWs of 1920 war, which was utter nonsense.
Indeed, thousands of the Soviet POWs died in Polish captivity in 1919 to 1921, but nobody murdered them deliberately.
Miserable conditions of transportation and habitation led to inevitable epidemics of typical diseases like typhus or dysentery, but even Polish medical staff fell victim to it.
Poland in 1920 simply could not afford better conditions to almost 80k freshly taken POW, especially as the Soviet offensive ended at the outskirts of Warsaw, leaving half of the country war-devastated.
Every case like that should be carefully investigated by common historical commissions, to put a stop to an ongoing spiral of hate based on ignorance. And we had quite a good experience and cooperation with the Russian side well into 2000s.
It all started to deteriorate when Anglosaxons decided to kill Europe.

Putin spoke about record levels of Russian agricultural exports, 03.05.2024.

Putin: agricultural exports amounted to $43.5 billion last year.

VILLAGE OF SOLNECHNODOLSK (Stavropol Territory), March 5 – RIA Novosti. Russia has become the fourth country in the world in exporting agricultural products, first in wheat, with revenue amounting to $43.5 billion, said Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have become the fourth country in the world in exporting agricultural products, and in wheat - the first country in the world. Revenue amounted to $43.5 billion when selling products on the foreign market... one of the first countries in meat production,” he said during communication with employees of the agro-industrial complex.

“There have never been such results in the agro-industrial complex in the country. Not even under the Tsar-Father,” the president added.

https://ria.ru/20240305/agroproduktsiya-1931283030.html

Putin called Russia's achievements in the field of meat production incredible, 03.05.2024.

Putin: Russia has come an incredible path from the legs of Bush to today.

STAVROPOL REGION, March 5 - RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin, recalling the shortage of products in the 90s and such goods imported from abroad as “Bush legs” and Royal alcohol, noted that winemaking is now developing in the country, and “what we have done in the field of production meat, it's incredible."

“What we have done in the field of meat production is, of course, incredible. They talked about “Bush legs” here, we know what it is, I won’t talk about it now, why talk about it? And we also drank this Royal, or whatever it is called, imported in unlimited quantities from Poland and other countries. But now our winemaking is developing, this is a completely different story," Putin said at a meeting with representatives of the agro-industrial complex.

The president also noted that competitors are trying to come up with various levers to restrain the country’s development and not only in agriculture. “And this happens in all areas, not only in the field of agriculture. Look, where we begin to grow, they immediately come up with some kind of containment tools,” Putin emphasized.

As an example, the head cited the example of humanitarian aid, which subsequently led to the ruin of domestic producers.

“Well, that’s how potatoes were sent to us at one time, as humanitarian aid, and thank God. This means that some goods were thrown at us in the form of food aid, yes, they left our producers here. I remember these conversations when humanitarian aid was a good thing - humanitarian aid, it has arrived - our producers have died inside because they cannot sell their products. The other side seems to be good intentions,” Putin said.

https://ria.ru/20240305/rossiya-1931313231.html

Russian winemakers ask to impose 200% tariffs on wine from NATO countries, 03.05.2024.

The Association of Winemakers and Warehousingers of Russia calls on the Russian authorities to set import tariffs for wine from NATO countries at 200%, Alexei Plotnikov, the organization's executive secretary, told Sputnik.

"We decided to appeal again to the government and the State Duma [Russian Lower House of Parliament] with a request to strengthen measures to protect the Russian market and to present the position of the association to the Russian Government and the Expert Council of the Duma Committee on Economic Policy, including the imposition of 200% import tariffs on wine, sparkling wine and fortified wine from NATO countries," Plotnikov noted.

The association also wants the preferential measures for the import of wine, sparkling wine and fortified wine from Georgia to be eliminated.

No less than 20% of the wine in the showcases of Russia must be of Russian production, with a subsequent increase in the quota up to 50%, they add in the petition of the Association of Winemakers and Winemakers of Russia to the State Duma.
In addition, they propose to establish a quota in restaurants on their wine list, which must have "from September 1, 2024 at least 50% of wines, sparkling wines, fortified wine produced on the territory of Russia" and specify such drinks at the beginning.

Yandex Translate from Spanish.

https://sputniknews.lat/20240305/vinicultores-rusos-piden-imponer-aranceles-del-200-al-vino-procedente-de-los-paises-de-la-otan-1148735507.html

Some studies of Stalin's personal life and character suggest the whole crime was driven by his very own feeling of rage against the Soviet POWs of 1920 war, which was utter nonsense.
Indeed, thousands of the Soviet POWs died in Polish captivity in 1919 to 1921, but nobody murdered them deliberately.

For all we know it might simply have been driven by Stalin realising there is going to be a big war coming and these Polish officers... if they survive are likely not going to be fighting for the Soviet Union and at the end of the conflict they will want their country back, so getting rid of them when they are unarmed would be more efficient and safer than waiting till they had guns and commanded troops again.

Stalin was ruthless... but I can't see him doing such a thing for fun or for no reason at all.

Every case like that should be carefully investigated by common historical commissions, to put a stop to an ongoing spiral of hate based on ignorance. And we had quite a good experience and cooperation with the Russian side well into 2000s.

The problem is that there is a very long period of history and they are going to find something to weaponise you against their enemy to get you onside... even if they have to make it up like the fake Holomodor in Ukraine.

The Association of Winemakers and Warehousingers of Russia calls on the Russian authorities to set import tariffs for wine from NATO countries at 200%, Alexei Plotnikov, the organization's executive secretary, told Sputnik.

I saw a video recently saying that the Baltic states are making lots of money selling spirits to Russia bypassing western sanctions, and that Russia should block that trade to eliminate the money the Baltic countries are making on Russian sales because of the hostility of the Baltic countries to Russia.

Russian grain interferes with French influence in Algeria, by Valeria Verbinina for VZGLYAD. 03.06.2024.

"Russia has removed France from its throne." With these words, foreign experts comment on an unprecedented event for North Africa: a sharp rise in Russian wheat supplies to Algeria, a market that was previously inaccessible to Russia. How did Russian exporters manage to squeeze out traditional French suppliers in Algeria?

France has again lost its former colony of Algeria - this time not in terms of territory and resources, but in terms of the grain market, which is now occupied by Russia. The tone in which European resources devoted to foreign trade and analysis of African markets reported this is no less remarkable than the very fact of the loss of a promising market.

“Grain: Russia has dethroned France and established itself as Algeria’s largest supplier,” is the headline on the website of the analytical publication Econostrum.

“In Algeria, Russia has become the main supplier of wheat in the first six months of the 2023-2024 season... surpassing the figure of the European Union, which is used to being the main supplier of North African countries,” admits the EU Economic and Financial Council (Ecofin), an advisory body of the European Union.

Ecofin analysts do not directly indicate which state Russia so cruelly offended, but there is no secret here. This is France, which once owned Algeria and fiercely fought for control over it. Ultimately forced to leave, France, however, managed to rebuild relations at a new level and become one of the main trading partners of its former colony, including in such an important sector as food supplies. But - only until recently. Now this status (at least as far as grains are concerned) is being taken away from it by Russia.

And one of the reasons for what is happening, oddly enough, is the actions of the French officials themselves, who made changes to grain specifications and doubled the permitted content of grain impurities - from 0.5 to 1%, which did not arouse enthusiasm among importing countries.

Adding fuel to the fire was the decision of France's National Sanitary Safety Agency to ban the widely used insecticide phosphine. It is not just used in grain processing - the authorities of North African countries (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt) require such processing. Otherwise, a ship loaded with grain may not be accepted at all.

Perhaps France’s seemingly strong position as one of the world’s largest grain exporters played a cruel joke until recently: “Every year France exports 11.5 million tons of grain, which brings it 3.8 billion euros. Taking advantage of the decline in exports from Ukraine and Russia as a result of hostilities, France is now the fourth largest grain exporter in the world,” wrote Express. And this situation was less than a year ago.

French officials were confident that there were no threats to their grain exports. However, life shows that achieving a certain position in a competitive market for a short time is one thing, but maintaining it is quite another.

As a result, the French government eventually lifted the ban on the use of phosphine, but time was lost. Grain is a critically important product, and attempts to change the rules on the fly (worsening specifications, banning a basic insecticide) could not be regarded by importers as anything other than a tool of pressure, especially in light of the difficult relations between the French and Algerian authorities.

Thus, Algerian expert Hicham Haddoum does not hide the fact that “economic preferences overlap with political factors,” and Algeria fears that

“France will use grain supplies as a pressure factor,” while friendly relations with Russia exclude this point.

The statistics speak for themselves. In October 2021, France exported more than 650 thousand tons of soft wheat to Algeria. A year later, this figure was already 1.05 million tons. However, at the end of October 2023, French grain exports to Algeria collapsed, amounting to only 157 thousand tons.

Nevertheless, Russia managed to take the place of French exporters not only because of the mistakes of the French. There are many grain suppliers in the world, and great efforts have to be made to increase supplies. A year ago, representatives of the Russian Grain Union (RGU) reported that Russia was ready to provide up to 40% of Algeria’s demand for milling wheat, and in the 2022-2023 agricultural year, the African country was among the leaders in the purchase of Russian wheat.

“Algeria literally broke into the top five largest importers of Russian wheat, purchasing 2.1 million tons of it compared to 28 thousand tons in the last agricultural year,” noted Eduard Zernin, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Grain Exporters.

Igor Pavensky, head of foreign market analysis at Rusagrotrans, says that Algeria has increased its exports of Russian wheat to 1.6 million tons in seven months of the 2023-2024 season. The supply potential for the agricultural year is 3 million tons, while the capacity of the Algerian market is 8 million tons. “In addition to wheat,” Pavensky noted , “shipments of barley have begun, the export of which has already reached 237 thousand tons this season. Barley imports into Algeria are generally low - 700-800 thousand tons per year - but Russia became the first in this market too.”

And here is what the Malian portal Maliactu writes , for example: “The decision (to expand the supply of Russian grain) was made in order to diversify sources of supply and guarantee the country’s food security. Russian grain is not only cheaper than French, but it is also of good quality... The loss of the Algerian market is a sensitive blow for France... This situation will most likely affect French agriculture and have a negative impact on the French economy. The fact that Russia has become Algeria's main grain supplier reflects the changing nature of trade relations between the countries. It is possible that this change will have important geopolitical and economic consequences for the region.”

However, that's not all. Part of the Algerian market is the export of durum wheat (the Latin term durum is also used), a segment traditionally dominated by Canada. Currently, Russia has a ban on the export of durum varieties, but, according to Pavensky , in the future Algeria “may also begin to purchase durum from Russia, the prices of which are significantly lower than durum supplied from Canada or the USA.”

In other words, Russian grain has very good prospects in Algeria. And according to the Federal Center “Agroexport”, in the future, exports of Russian agricultural products to this country may exceed $1.5 billion.

https://vz.ru/economy/2024/3/6/1254334.html

One of the many exhibitions that are held annually in different cities of Russia

Just for your understanding, how cheap it is to purchase land in Russia for agriculture - at the moment there is an auction for the sale of a plot in the Nizhny Novgorod region with an area of 5.3 hectares for agricultural use - its cost is 250,274 rubles (less than $ 2,750)

https://www.roseltorg.ru/procedure/COM13032400042

Duties on grain from Russia will make bread a luxury for Europeans, by Gleb Prostakov for VZGLYAD. 03.20.2024.

The EU, using economic methods, but purely for political reasons, blocks grain imports from the Russian Federation. In the short term this will probably please European farmers, but in the long term it will upset European consumers.

The expected introduction by the European Union of a duty on grain from Russia and Belarus in the amount of 95 euros per ton, as recently reported by the Financial Times, will be another gesture to the segmentation of the once common commodity markets for the world.

The duty is being introduced amid rapidly growing protests by European farmers who have forcibly blocked the import of Ukrainian grain to Europe. Now the EU, using economic methods, but purely for political reasons, is blocking grain imports from the Russian Federation. The size of the duty will provoke a 50% increase in prices for supplied products, that is, it is actually protective. In the short term, this will likely please European farmers, but in the long term it will upset European consumers, for whom grain and grain products will become a luxury.

Despite sanctions and administrative barriers, Russia continues to increase its share in the global grain market. According to estimates by the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, in the current marketing year (July 2023 – June 2024), the Russian Federation’s share in world wheat trade may increase from 22% to 25%. The total export potential can reach 67 million tons, taking into account the gross harvest and grain balances in warehouses. At the end of 2023, the Federal Customs Service announced that federal budget revenues from food exports are second only to revenues from oil and gas exports.

Food is confidently becoming Russia’s new oil and, at the same time, a factor of the country’s geopolitical significance. Unlike hydrocarbon exports, grain exports not only did not decline due to sanctions, but are growing rapidly. The main buyers of Russian grain are not in Europe - they are China, the Middle East, Egypt and Kazakhstan. Russian food exports were almost unaffected by the departure of the largest Western grain traders, such as Cargill and Viterra, from the country - the local assets of these companies became the property and management of Russian structures and continued their work in their core business.

Moscow is not only not too afraid of European duties on its products, but is ready to introduce additional duties on unfriendly states and, conversely, free exports from encumbrances to friendly countries. In December 2023, changes were made to customs legislation that allow the government to reduce and even eliminate duties on exports of products to friendly countries, which fully applies to food exports.

This measure in the short term may result in some limitation of budget revenues from food exports, but its long-term goal is to occupy markets loyal to Russian goods, for which new supply logistics will be built.

The same logic applies to the creation of the BRICS food exchange, which will allow us to build our own pricing system, independent of American and European exchange platforms. The idea was fundamentally agreed upon at the level of the organization’s founding countries. Its implementation will take time, and the main contribution to accelerating processes will come from an increase in the share of trade in the national currencies of the BRICS countries.

In principle, the idea was recognized as viable and useful. The fact is that within BRICS there is an almost perfect balance of supply and demand. According to the Union of Grain Exporters, the total harvest by the BRICS countries (including new members Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Iran and Ethiopia) will reach 1.24 billion tons (44% of the world) of grain, while consumption will be as close as possible to this value - 1 .23 billion tons. Thus, it is the BRICS common food market that can become a locomotive for the economic integration of the member states.

A separate story is connected with the Northern Military District and the mobility of Russia’s borders. Ukraine left the club of the largest grain exporters. Its share in traditional markets has sharply decreased; the Ukrainian niche is occupied by Russian and Kazakh suppliers. This is due both to a decrease in grain collection in the territories annexed by Russia, as well as on the front-line territories, and to the Russian Federation’s withdrawal from the grain deal and a sharp drop in grain transshipment in the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev.

These considerations determined the statement made by the French Foreign Ministry at the beginning of the year that in the event of Ukraine’s defeat, Russia would occupy 30% of the world grain market. It is difficult to say how accurate the French calculations are: in 2021, a relatively calm year, Ukraine’s share in global grain exports was about 14%. At the same time, the most interesting regions in the agricultural sense are located in the central (Poltava, Dnepropetrovsk, Kirovograd, Vinnitsa) and southwestern (Odessa, Nikolaev) parts of the country, not directly affected by the fighting. Thus, the main contribution to the decline in the importance of Ukraine as a grain supplier lies not so much in the production area as in difficult logistics.

The possible annexation of even some of the listed regions to Russia, coupled with the Black Sea ports, could increase the country’s weight in world grain trade to 30–35%, which would turn Moscow into an absolute dominant force in the food market on a planetary scale. And this will already be a lever of influence on the world greater than oil and gas. Energy crises will sooner or later be replaced by food and clean water crises. And by that time, Russia will have an abundance of both the first and the second.

https://vz.ru/opinions/2024/3/20/1258972.html

'Sanctions war’ cheerleader among top buyers of Russian fertilizers – RIA, 03.21.2024.

The US, India, and Brazil accounted for 60% of Moscow’s entire exports of the product in 2023, according to RIA Novosti.

The US was among the three biggest importers of Russian fertilizers in 2023, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday, citing data from the UN Comtrade platform and trade statistics.

Despite being at the forefront of the Western sanctions war against Moscow, the US boosted fertilizer imports from Russia to 4.3 million tons last year, worth $1.6 billion – up from 2.5 million tons in the previous year, according to the agency’s calculations.

That made the US the third-biggest buyer, behind Russia’s BRICS partners Brazil and India.

Brazil retained its position as the main importer of Russian fertilizers in 2023, purchasing 9.4 million tons, worth roughly $4 billion. India followed, significantly increasing its purchases to 4.8 million tons, worth $2.2 billion, from 3.6 million in 2022.

When combined, Brazil, India, and the US accounted for roughly 60% of Russia’s overall fertilizer exports, which amounted to a total of 32 million tons worth almost $14 billion.

Other major buyers of Russian fertilizers included China, with an import volume of 2.1 million tons ($892 million), and Indonesia with 1.1 million tons ($481 million). Türkiye, Denmark, Germany, France, and Malaysia were also among the top purchasers.

Moscow faced unprecedented sanctions from the West following the start of the Ukraine conflict in early 2022. While Russian fertilizers and grain have not been directly targeted by restrictive measures, their export has been affected by financial, shipping, and insurance constraints placed on Moscow.

Consequently, Russia’s fertilizer exports dropped to roughly 27 million tons in 2022 from 32.3 million in 2021. It has since remedied the situation by gradually redirecting a significant part of shipments to ‘friendly’ nations that did not join sanctions. Moscow has also repeatedly called for restrictions affecting its agricultural trade to be lifted, warning of potentially dire consequences for global food security.

https://www.rt.com/business/594610-russia-fertilizers-largest-buyers/

US Imports of Russian Fertilizers Rise to Over $150 Million, 04.08.2024.

February 2024 saw the US imports of Russian fertilizers rise to their highest quantities since June 2023, Sputnik found out based on US Statistics Bureau data.

The US purchased $158.5 million worth of Russian fertilizers by the end of February, according to the official data.

Previously, the number peaked last June when the goods imported from Russia to the US amounted to $158.7 million. At the same time, the US doubled its imports of fertilizers in January-February.

The bulk of the imports come from purchasing nitrogen and potassium fertilizers, both have been supplied without breaks on a month-to-month basis. In February 2024, nitrogen imports amounted to $84 million and potassium purchases totaled $74 million.


Russia’s combined fertilizers are also in high demand in the US market. This February, their overall import was valued at almost $550,000. Besides, the US also buys Russian animal, plant-based and phosphorus fertilizers.

In 2023 alone, Russia supplied close to $1.4 billion worth (15% of total US imports) of various fertilizers to the US, second only to Canada in this category. Canada remains the US' number one fertilizer client with $4.4 billion (48%).

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240408/us-imports-of-russian-fertilizers-rise-to-over-150-million-1117809061.html

This is good...

GarryB wrote:This is good...

This man says that the elevator is just a silo. In fact, nothing like that. An elevator is a complex for the primary processing of grain and its preparation for storage, which also has grain storage facilities. So a typical elevator has a transport terminal, a primary processing terminal (ventilation and drying of grain) and granaries.

When you despise Russia, but...

https://www.rt.com/business/596113-lithuania-russian-grain-imports/

Staunch critic of Russia resumes grain purchases

Lithuania has resumed purchasing grain from Russia after a lengthy hiatus, importing more than 12,000 metric tons in February, worth around $2 million, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing statistical data.

Statistics show that Latvia has also increased imports of Russian grain, purchasing 58,800 tons in February compared to 52,600 tons the previous month.

Riga has been one of the most outspoken advocates of imposing EU-wide sanctions on Russian grain. This, however, has not stopped Latvia from increasing its agricultural imports from Russia by almost 40% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024.

In February, Latvia imposed a unilateral ban on food imports from Russia and Belarus, becoming the first EU state to introduce such an embargo, while Lithuania announced that it would subject cargo to strict inspection.

Despite this, the EU countries in February collectively purchased 92,600 tons of Russian grain, worth almost €17 million.

Why is Russia selling to the enemy? Lithuania and the rest of NATzO can shop elsewhere.

kvs wrote:Why is Russia selling to the enemy?   Lithuania and the rest of NATzO can shop elsewhere.

Nobody reject the chance to gain some money in a world of commercial activities.

Basically people get used to their anti-Russia barking anyway.

Make a big PR campaign.
Everywhere.
Tell the people of those countries what their leaders are doing.
Tell them what clowns their "leaders" are.