Russia, India double trade in agricultural products over 3 years - Russian Agriculture Ministry
MOSCOW. Dec 4 (Interfax) - Trade in agricultural products between Russia and India has doubled over three years, the Russian Agriculture Ministry said following a meeting between Russian Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut and Indian Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in New Delhi.
Trade turnover reached a record level in 2024, including due to growth in exports to India of sunflower oil and pulses.
Lut noted Russia's interest in increasing amounts and diversifying supplies, the ministry said. "In particular, there are prospects for increasing exports of domestic vegetable oils, livestock products and pulses. Our country in turn is ready to import Indian products, including vegetables and tropical fruits," the ministry said.
In addition, expanding supplies of Russian mineral fertilizers holds significant potential. Domestic producers are ready to increase exports in accordance with the needs of Indian partners, Lut said.
"We see prospects in developing cooperation in the scientific and technical sphere, establishing direct interaction between our research centers and organizing internships for Russian and Indian specialists. In addition, we consider developing bilateral partnership in agricultural education to be important," Lut was quoted by the ministry as saying.
Prospects for expanding mutual trade and cooperation were also discussed at a meeting between Lut and the Indian Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh. "Russia is interested in joint work to ensure transparent and unimpeded conditions for agricultural trade, building reliable supply chains for agricultural products. We highly value the strategic nature of our partnership and count on its further development," Lut said.
There is substantial potential for growth in mutual supplies, primarily of aquaculture products, Lut said. Russia is interested in obtaining full access to the Indian market for certain types of livestock products. Another promising area of cooperation could be the implementation of joint projects for producing veterinary drugs and vaccines.
As reported, trade turnover of agricultural products between Russia and India amounted to a record $3.5 billion in 2024, up 1.6-fold compared to the previous year.
In 2024, Russia supplied agricultural products and food to India worth $2.6 billion, which is twice as much as in 2023. This corresponds to fifth place with a 7.3% share in the ranking of main suppliers after Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Argentina. In physical terms, supplies increased 2.5-fold to 3.17 million tonnes.
The largest share in Russian exports was held by oil and fat products, of which 2.17 million tonnes worth nearly $2.17 billion were supplied. This is 1.8-fold and 1.7-fold more, respectively, than a year earlier. In particular, supplies of sunflower oil increased to 1.9 million tonnes from 1 million tonnes in 2023 and their value increased to $1.8 billion from $1.1 billion, respectively. Russia's share in supplies of oil and fat products to the Indian market amounted to 12.8%.
The second largest export position was pulses, including peas. Their supplies last year increased to 946,600 tonnes from 36,800 tonnes in 2023, and their value increased to $406.9 million from $34.5 million. As a result, Russia entered the top four exporters of this product to the Indian market.
In turn, in 2024 India supplied 428,600 tonnes of agricultural goods to the Russian market which were worth $805.2 million, compared to 399,200 tonnes worth $800.9 million in 2023. The main commodity position in the value structure of exports was crustaceans (15.4%). The top three also included tea (9.4%) and non-food extracts and natural resins (9.2%). The largest increase in supplies was for grapes and peanuts (up 1.6-fold) and sesame seeds (+17.4%).
