Agriculture & Food

MOSCOW, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese market is open to wheat and barley from various regions of Russia, which is extremely important to Russian producers and exporters, Eduard Zernin, chairman of the Union of Grain Exporters of Russia, said during the China Business Forum in Moscow. Therefore, large-scale grain exports to China may begin in 2022-2023.

On February 4, during his visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the two sides signed a bilateral agreement allowing wheat and barley to be exported to China from all regions of Russia. Previously, wheat and barley could only be exported from seven regions of Russia: Altai Krai, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Chelyabinsk Region, Omsk Region, Novosibirsk Region, Amur Region and Chur dry state.

In 2021, only 55,000 tons of wheat, worth $13 million, will be shipped from Russia to China, and 94,000 tons of barley, worth $23 million. Zernin pointed out that the signed agreement makes it possible to start large-scale grain exports from Russia's Azov and Black Sea coasts, which will greatly increase exports.

He said: "At the beginning, there will be one or two trial exports, and large-scale exports may begin in 2022-23. We expect that there will be at least 1 million tons, and there will be a substantial increase in the future."

Zelning believes that Russian wheat has few competitors in terms of price/performance.

He added: "Making Russia one of the main food suppliers will enable China to speed up purchases and optimize the logistics of commodities."

According to the ITC Trade Map, in 2020 China imported 8.2 million tons of wheat, worth $2.3 billion, and 8.1 million tons of barley, worth $1.9 billion. Canada, France and the United States are the main suppliers of wheat, and the main suppliers of barley are Ukraine, Canada and France.