Food exports from Russia keep surging as Turkey and Europe ramp up purchases

Russia’s agricultural sector has seen impressive growth in foreign sales this year, according to the latest data published by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture’s AgroExport center.

In 2021, exports of agricultural products from the country reportedly amounted to more than $20.5 billion as of September 5, marking growth of 17.2% compared to the same period a year ago.

Grain exports within the specified period grew by 13.4% as Russian farmers sold more than $6.185 billion worth abroad, while sales in the fat-and-oil sector surged 43.9% to $4.531 billion. Exports of meat and dairy products rose 26.5% to $927 million.

At the same time, exports of fish and seafood saw a modest increase of 7% and totaled $3.492 billion, while foreign sales of food and pharmaceutical industry products amounted to $927 million, marking substantial growth of 26.5%.

Turkey and the EU were the biggest importers of Russian agricultural goods during this time, accounting for 12.8% and 11.8% of its total exports, respectively. Turkey increased its purchases of Russian food products by 32.8% to $2.619 billon, while exports to Europe surged 30.8% to $2.427 billion.

Meanwhile, exports to China, the third-biggest buyer, dropped 7.1% to $2.343 billion, accounting for 11.4% of Russia’s total foreign sales.

South Korea, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia also entered the top 10 of the largest buyers of Russian agricultural goods.

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