The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with the Ambassadors of all of the ASEAN countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, in Moscow. They discussed improving Russia’s multilateral trade with the bloc as well as developing relations between ASEAN and BRICS, the Eurasian Economic Union and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Belarus is starting to become another air corridor to the Far East as Belarus introduces thrice-weekly direct flights to Nha Trang in Vietnam, a popular coastal resort on the South China Sea.
Russia’s Tugansk Mining and Processing Plant in Tomsk is investing over US$500 million to upgrade its production of zirconium concentrate to both dominate the domestic Russian market and become an exporter to Asia. Zirconium concentrate is a valuable mineral resource with a wide range of applications across various new tech and energy industries.
Russia’s Rosatom and Resurs of Chelyabinsk have signed agreements to exports and supply groats to several Asian markets due to increasing consumer demand. delivery will be by rail to Vladivostok and by shipping to Asian ports although overland deliveries are also being worked out. Global consumption of groats is rapidly increasing.
The Philippines has become the third largest importer of Russian pork after Vietnam and China, and ahead of Hong Kong and Mongolia. The world’s largest pork consumers per capita are in Europe, with Russia’s supplies to Asia adequately showcasing the changing supply chains in global markets.
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The Iran war is impacting supply chains throughout Central Asia including the Eurasian Economic Union and Commonwealth of Independent States, creating new logistics corridors as well as problems. We examine the geostrategic implications as the Western hemisphere becomes increasingly isolated from the East.
The crisis in the Middle East has disrupted maritime logistics between China and Europe, with operators reconsidering Russian and Eurasian overland routes. But these too face difficulties as Russian Railways is close to full capacity and political divisions have closed off EU-Russian borders. While there are options for Russia-Asia supply chains, the Eurasian routes remain problematic for European importers. We discuss what could be done to allieviate the situation.
South Korea is poised to join the Trans-Arctic Corridor and work with Rosatom on using the Northern Sea Route for trade with Russia and Europe, according to Rosatom’s CEO. Rosatom provide nuclear-powered icebreaker services across the Russian Arctic.
As we predicted would happen, shortages created by the Iran conflict are starting to spill over into other industrial areas. A shortage of aluminium is now affected the Japanese auto industry, with carmakers turning to Russia’s Rusal to obtain supplies as their usual Middle East manufacturing supply chains are inoperable.
Russia’s exports of agricultural products to Turkiye rose 9% during 2025 to reach US$3.8 billion in value and 12 million tonnes in weight. Primary exports in this category include wheat, sunflower oil, bran, legumes, oilseed cake, rice, flaxseed, molasses and barley, all of which showed significant increases
South Korea’s Sinokor Shipping has added a new China route using Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. The company is the largest Korean shipper operating in Russia, with the new route taking in Busan, Vladivostok, Xiamen, Hong Kong, Shekou and Haiphong.
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