Moscow | Reuters — Securing access for Russia’s winter wheat and barley to the Chinese market remains a priority for the coming year, Russia’s agricultural watchdog said on Tuesday, even though the market expects Russia’s grain harvest and exports to fall.
China, the world’s biggest grain consumer, has been increasing imports of Russian grains, becoming the top importer of Russian oats, but is lagging far behind Russia’s traditional buyers in terms of wheat imports.
Access to the Chinese market was a key issue during the years of bumper harvests as Russia sought to diversify its exports, reducing dependency on traditional customers in the Middle East and North Africa.
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However, with Russia’s wheat harvest and exports expected to fall next year due to the poor state of winter wheat across many producing regions, the issue of export diversification is becoming less acute.
China has so far only allowed spring wheat imports from Russia. Winter wheat, which has higher yields and is more profitable for farmers, accounts for about 90 per cent of Russia’s total wheat harvest.
The watchdog said it would also work to gain access to the Chinese market for Russian wheat bran, food-grade soybean meal, beet pulp with added molasses, red beans, mung beans, amaranth, flax cake, millet, mustard, and malt.
— Reporting by Olga Popova and Gleb Bryanski
