Russia's Agriculture Ministry to maintain ban on rice exports in 2023, propose preferences for sugar imports

MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) - Russia's Agriculture Ministry plans to maintain the ban on exports of rice and rice grits through 2023 and is prepared to propose that the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) introduce preferences for sugar imports, the ministry said after an interagency meeting held by Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev on food security and the price situation on the global and domestic markets for agricultural products.

Patrushev said Russia has now harvested 151 million tonnes of grain in bunker weight, including about 105 million tonnes of wheat.

"However, for some items we're seeing a lag from last year's pace, specifically for rice, the gross harvest of which is expected to be 950,000 tonnes. This amount is equivalent to the threshold of domestic consumption, so the Agriculture Ministry plans to put forward the initiative to extend restrictions on exports of this crop and rice grits to next year," the statement said.

In addition, despite the optimistic forecasts for the sugar beet harvest, projecting an increase to 43.3 million tonnes from 41.2 million tonnes in 2021, only a little over 34 million tonnes have been harvested so far, which is somewhat less than at this time last year.

"Patrushev stressed that the ministry is keeping this issue under control and if necessary will be ready to go to the forum of the EEC with the proposal to set preferences for sugar imports," the ministry said.

Speaking about the situation in livestock farming and processing, Patrushev said that these sectors generally saw positive trends in the first nine months of 2022, including in pig, poultry and dairy farming and in virtually all areas of the food and processing industry. He recalled that the Agriculture Ministry proposed extending preferences for beef imports to 2023 in order to maintain a stable price situation on the beef market.

The ministry will also introduce additional measures next year to support beef production in the form of partial reimbursement of expenses and an overall increase in financing for this industry.