Saudi Arabia has purchased 2 mln tons of grain from Russia since July - exporters union
MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax) - Saudi Arabia is among the top three importers of Russian grain, and the country has purchased 2 million tons of grain since the beginning of the current agricultural season as of July 2024, including about 860,000 tonnes of wheat.
The Agriculture Ministry's Agroexport center said that Chairman of the Board of Grain Exporters and Producers Union Eduard Zernin spoke about this at a plenary session as part of the business mission of Russian exporting companies to Saudi Arabia.
Zernin said that establishing the BRICS Grain Exchange, which will also cover the grain market of the Middle East and North Africa, could contribute to an increase in supplies.
Saudi Arabia's FEEDCO Purchasing Director Eiman Ibrahim said that the country needs a reliable supplier of grain to meet the needs of the domestic market. Saudi Arabia is also trying to expand its own production of agricultural products, particularly grain, and the country would be grateful to Russian businesses for expert support, he said.
"It should also be noted that Saudi Arabia has a strategically important geographical position and could become a hub for Russia for deliveries to other countries in the Middle East. Therefore, the volumes should be significantly increased, I believe, several times," Ibrahim added.
Russia's Deputy Agriculture Minister Sergei Levin said that the experience of trading wheat is an example of the jointly fruitful collaboration of the two countries in the agricultural sector. The share of Russian supplies totaled nearly half of the overall volume of Saudi imports of the crop in 2023. Saudi Arabia has also become an important market for domestic producers of barley, poultry, beef, and vegetable oil in recent years.
Artyom Daushev, assistant to the head of Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), said that over 140 Russian enterprises are currently accredited to supply products to Saudi Arabia. "These are meat, dairy, and fish products," he specified.
Agroexport head Dmitry Krasnov at the meeting said that Russian exports of agricultural products to Saudi Arabia have been increasing by an average of 30% per year since 2019, with the amount of deliveries exceeding $1 billion in January-October 2024. "We have broad prospects in terms of expanding the range of products that Russia could supply to the Saudi Arabian market, and could well expect to increase exports to $1.5 billion by 2030," he said.
Mamadouh Alsharari, General Director of the General Directorate of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, also said that Russia and Saudi Arabia should look for new opportunities and areas of cooperation, and not only expansion of trade, but also collaboration in the area of technology, waste reduction, green production, and selection.
"Another important area is developing agricultural infrastructure. We could use it together, increase production, and then supply it to the markets of other countries. Russia has extensive experience, while Saudi Arabia's advantage is its strategic logistics position," he said.
As reported, agricultural trade accounted for more than 60% of the total trade turnover between Russia and Saudi Arabia in 2023, and the figure has reached nearly 90% this year.