Exports of Russian agricultural products with high added value growing at accelerated pace - Agroexport

MOSCOW. Sept 11 (Interfax) - The structure of agricultural product exports has recently been undergoing a transformation, with shipments of high-margin products growing at an accelerated pace, and this requires increasing the efficiency of export support institutions, the head of the Agroexport federal center Ilya Ilyushin said at the international conference "Measures to enhance the competitiveness of Russian exporters of agricultural products" on Thursday in Moscow.

"Over 8 months of this year, exports of finished meat products increased 19% in value terms, pasta 25%, ice cream 35%, non-alcoholic beverages 11% and confectionery 7%. Exports of fish fillets grew 19%," Ilyushin said. "Shipments of dry dairy whey more than doubled, fermented dairy products [rose] 23% and cheeses and cottage cheese [increased] 19%. Supplies of grape wines increased 36%, strong alcohol 37% and beer 28%."

Among livestock products, pork exports are growing at an accelerated pace - 1.6-fold, he said. "Primarily due to the expansion of exports to China, where supplies doubled, and to Vietnam, where new enterprises were certified," he said.

"Such dynamics indicate that producers of meat, milk and finished food products are increasingly actively exploring foreign markets. And this requires increasing the efficiency of export support institutions, since exporting finished products requires the ability to competently position and promote one's brand, lengthens the supply chain and forces one to work directly with consumers," Ilyushin said.

At the same time, the geography of growth in finished product exports covers both traditional markets in the post-Soviet space and such important destinations as China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and South Korea, he said. For example, pork exports to Belarus increased 1.8-fold, bran to Turkey by one third, chocolate to Kazakhstan 21%, poultry meat to Saudi Arabia 1.6-fold, fish fillets to South Korea also 1.6-fold and beef to China 16%.

Exports of value-added products have significant potential for further growth, particularly in supplies of dairy products to Algeria, meat products to Angola and Vietnam, confectionery to Saudi Arabia and the UAE and fish fillets to China, Ilyushin said. "One of the most promising directions for the development of Russian agricultural exports is Africa. The continent's population is growing at a rapid pace - approximately 2.6% per year. In 2019-2024, African countries' imports of agricultural products increased 14% and reached $96 billion. And the demand for food from African states will continue to grow," he said.

In this regard, one of its strategic tasks for Agroexport as the project office of the Export of Agricultural Products federal project is the systematic coordination of the work of state support institutions and financial, logistics and other organizations related to agricultural exports, he said.

Agroexport is intensifying direct work with exporting companies. "This year, we have processed over 220 requests from Russian companies. The most frequent requests are for assistance in starting export activities, help in finding potential sales markets, consulting on available state support measures, as well as clarifications on tariffs and barriers of importing countries," he said. "This year, we began developing new areas - support for exports of seeds, vaccines, plant protection products and fertilizers, and promoting Russian agricultural education abroad."