Agroexport puts potential for Russian food, agricultural exports to Angola at $100 mln/year
MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - Russia has the potential to export $100 million worth of food and agricultural products to Angola per year, the head of the Agroexport Center, Dmitry Krasnov said in an online business mission to Angola by Russian exporters.
"We estimate the potential for exports as very high. By our estimates, there is potential to increase the amount of shipments to $100 million per year. Foremost, this refers to grain imports," Krasnov said, remarking that Angola purchased 1.6 million tonnes of grain on the world market in 2022, including 560,000 tonnes of wheat.
"And therefore this is clearly a promising market for us. Russian companies might also be interested in shipping soybean oil and other products," he said.
The deputy CEO of United Grain Company (UGC), Ksenia Bolomatova said her company has had experience exporting grain to Angola. "But previously the principle of operations was different - we shipped through international traders. Now we are interested in entering into direct partnerships and directly shipping grain to Angolan customers - flour mills and all who are interested in large purchases," she said.
UGC is prepared to offer Angolan partners 50,000-100,000 tonnes of grain monthly, and the company's infrastructure enables it "to ensure completely seamless delivery of the amount that partners are interested in," Bolomatova said.
Krasnov said Russian poultry farmers also have good opportunities on the Angolan market. Angola imported more than 500,000 tonnes of meat products in 2022, 7% more than in 2018, and poultry accounted for 64% of this.
"Angola's poultry farming industry is more geared toward producing eggs. And local fresh broilers cost more than frozen imported ones due to high feed prices. This creates good opportunities for Russian companies to export to Angola," Krasnov said.
The CEO of Russia's National Union of Poultry Producers, Sergei Lakhtyukhov, who also took part in the business mission, said Russia exported "only a little more than 1,500 tonnes of poultry meat" to Angola last year. "And we see substantial potential for growth," he said, adding that there is strong demand for broilers in the country.
The possibility of exporting other poultry products to Angola, such as broiler hatching eggs, should also be considered, Lakhtyukhov said, adding that Russia currently exports poultry products to 40 countries.
Krasnov said Russia also has strong potential to export flour, sausage, pasta products, yeast, beef and grain legumes to Angola.
The vice president of agribusiness group Miratorg, Olga Psareva said at the event that her company is prepared to offer Angola a wide assortment of products and actively integrate into the country's market. The company is also prepared to share its experience developing direct sales to consumers and working with the HoReCa sector, she said.
"As we know, one of the Angolan government's priorities is to develop modern sales formats, and here we can offer our help and cooperation. Our own chain of supermarkets in Russia has more than 100 stores and joint projects with the largest chains in more than 25 countries make it possible to carry out large-scale and interesting projects," Psareva said.
Russian food and agricultural exports to Angola plunged to $4.6 million in 2022 from $47 million in 2021, Agroexport said in a report for the business mission.