Russia could increase fish exports 40% through increased shipments of processed products - Agroexport

ST. PETERSBURG. Oct 24 (Interfax) - Russia holds strong positions on the global fish market, primarily in frozen fish, and increasing shipments of processed and finished products will allow it to increase export revenue 40%, the head of the Agroexport federal center, Ilya Ilyushin, said at a round table as part of the international fisheries forum in St. Petersburg on Friday.

"So far, we specialize in exporting raw materials, which are subsequently processed and re-exported. In particular, China, South Korea and the Netherlands operate on this model, processing Russian fish and supplying it to other countries. By increasing the share of processed and finished products, the Russian fishery sector has the potential to increase the value level of exports by no less than 40%," Ilyushin said.

To further develop fish product exports, existing barriers and restrictions need to be removed, he said. For instance, duties for Russian companies when supplying to India amount to 30%. In Brazil, for fish fillets it is 10% and for canned fish it is 16%.

Ilyushin recalled that Russia exported over 2 million tonnes of fish and seafood worth more than $5 billion in 2024. The main buyers are China, South Korea, the Netherlands, Belarus, Japan, Norway, Kazakhstan, Germany, Hong Kong and the UAE.

Export revenue from supplies of fish and seafood grew 11% in 9M 2025 to around $4.3 billion, he said. "Almost all major buyers of fish products increased their purchases. The highest growth was shown by supplies to Hong Kong - 13 times, the UAE - 4.7 times, Tajikistan - 1.5 times, Belarus - 22% and China - 17%. This year, record amounts of cod, herring and scallop supplies to China were achieved, shipments of crabs to Tunisia resumed, and supplies of crabs to Thailand began," he said.

In addition, exports of frozen fish increased 18% in value terms in 9M, Ilyushin said. This includes an increase in frozen pollock of 29% to $663 million, and 13% for cod, to $417 million. "Exports of processed fish increased significantly. For instance, supplies of pollock mince increased 1.7 times to $154 million and of pollock fillets - 16% to $107 million. This happened first and foremost due to a 1.7-fold expansion of fish fillet shipments to South Korea and [an] almost 1.8-fold [increase] to Belarus," he said.