In 2023, Russia exported over 66 mn tons of grain, worth almost $16.5 billion, RF Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev said in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. ‘This is an absolute record for the Russian Federation,’ he noted. I am now talking about 2023.
‘Wheat, corn and barley accounted for the bulk of our volumes. We retain the top global position in terms of wheat trade. Russia is the main supplier of wheat to countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India and China,’ the Kremlin press office quotes Patrushev as saying.
‘Despite the current global price slump, we continue to generate higher agricultural produce export revenues. In 2023, these revenues totalled $43.5 billion, $1.5 billion more than in 2022,’ he added.
‘In 2000, our export revenues totalled $1.4 billion. In effect, in 24 years, we have managed to boost agro-industrial export revenues 30 times over,’ Patrushev reminded.
‘We are expanding our range of products. Apart from grain, we export substantial amounts of fish, seafood, oils, butter and fats, meat and dairy products and confectionery. Russia therefore remains a major global supplier of multiple products, and I would say that in many ways, it plays a stabilising role. In effect, we continue to expand virtually the entire range of our exports abroad,’ he continued.
According to Patrushev, over 150 states are buying our food today. ‘In the past two years, we have managed to reroute our supplies to a great extent, and we now deliver 90 percent of all our products to friendly countries,’ the minister said.
‘We hope that 2024 export volumes will be the same as in 2023. I have mentioned a substantial agro-industrial price slump. This year, we are set to export up to 70 million tons of grain,’ Patrushev noted.
‘Additionally, we will continue to expand our product range. This year, we intend to start exporting our pork to China. It took us a lot of time and effort to achieve this goal. We managed to reach an agreement last year, and pork deliveries are to commence this year,’ he said.
Photo: Kremlin press office