Russia's Agriculture Ministry expects grain exports to rise to 81 mln tonnes by 2030 - Luth

MINERALNYE VODY. June 21 (Interfax) - Russia's Agriculture Ministry expects grain exports to rise to 81 million tonnes by 2030, Agriculture Minister Oksana Luth said during a plenary session at the All-Russia Field Day in the Stavropol Territory.

This figure is possible amid a grain harvest totaling 170 million tonnes in 2030, Luth said.

"We should reach 81 million tonnes by 2030 according to our preliminary expectation for exports," she said.

Exports totaled 70 million tonnes in 2023 according to her presentation.

Luth also said that preliminary data indicate that Russia should attain first place in terms of exporting barley this agricultural season from July 2023 to June 2024. "Barley has always been a niche crop, mainly intended for the domestic market. We have had a breakthrough this year," she said.

She also said that exports of oilseeds would decline.

"We would like to reduce exports of oilseeds, because we would like to increase exports of processed products. We do not wish to trade in raw materials; we would like to trade in the product. Therefore, we are constructing more plants here for this. There is an offer from Chinese partners to construct plants for processing oilseeds, so we are confident that we will handle this task," Luth said.

Exports of oilseeds could decline from 5 million tonnes in 2023 to 2.5 million tonnes by 2030, she said in her presentation. Meantime, supplies of vegetable oil could increase from 7 million tonnes in 2023 to 9 million tonnes.

Although the oilseed harvest is forecast at 35 million tonnes in 2030, Luth said that this is insufficient.

"We need 40 million tonnes. We are still missing 5 million tonnes. Accordingly, the current technology does not allow for this, and the current situation does not allow us to achieve plus 5 million tonnes, though we are also waiting for proposals from the market, from science, from businesses. The target for the time being is 35 million tonnes, and we need to reach 40 million tonnes," Luth said.

The presentation also indicates that exports of meat and meat products should increase from 700,000 tonnes to 2 million tonnes by 2030, dairy products from 1 million tonnes to 2 million tonnes, flour from 1 million tonnes to 2 million tonnes, sugar from 700,000 tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes, and confectionery products from 600,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes, respectively.

Exports overall should total $55 billion in 2030. Russia exported agricultural products worth $43.5 billion in 2023.