Russia joins top five exporters of agricultural products to India for first time in 2024 - Agroexport

MOSCOW. Sept 16 (Interfax) - Russia became one of the top five exporters of agricultural products to the Indian market for the first time in 2024, federal center Agroexport said in a report which it prepared ahead of an organized business trip to India for Russian exporters on September 25-28.

Agroexport told Interfax that Russia retained a firm position among the top five exporters of vegetable oils and legumes this year, which are among the key agricultural products imported by India.

According to the report, trade in agricultural produce between Russia and India increased 1.6-fold in 2024 to a record of $3.5 billion. It also grew 3.5-fold in 2020-2024.

Agricultural and food exports from Russia to India doubled in 2024, reaching $2.6 billion. Russia thus ranked fifth with 7.3% of India's total imports, behind Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Argentina. Exports grew 2.5-fold in weight terms to 3.168 million tonnes.

In 2024, oil and fat products made up the greatest share of Russia's exports and totaled 2.167 million tonnes or $2.165 billion in value terms, increasing 1.8-fold and 1.7-fold respectively. Sunflower oil exports grew from 1 million tonnes to 1.9 million tonnes over the year, and from $1.1 billion to $1.8 billion in value terms. Russia had a 12.8% share in India's overall imports of oil and fat products.

A second major export product was legumes, including peas. Exports rose from 36,800 tonnes to 946,600 tonnes in 2024, and from $34.5 million to $406.9 million in value terms, as a result of which Russia became one of the top four suppliers of the products to India.

India exported 428,600 tonnes of agricultural products to Russia for $805.2 million in 2024, compared to 399,200 tonnes for $800.9 million the previous year. Crustaceans made up the largest proportion of this with 15.4%, followed by tea with 9.4% and non-food extracts and natural resins with 9.2%. The largest growth was in grapes and peanuts, exports of which grew almost 1.6-fold, and sesame seeds, which increased 17.4%.

Agroexport reported that representatives of over 25 Russian and over 40 Indian companies will take part in the business trip, which will involve an extensive business program including more than 200 B2B meetings.