Русский
Russia has the potential to export more than US$210 million worth of agricultural products to Thailand per year by 2030, according to Dmitry Krasnov, the head of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture’s Agroexport Center. He was speaking at a business mission by Russian exporters to Thailand on Tuesday (October 28).
Krasnov said that “At present, the possibilities for our trade with Thailand are not fully realized. We estimate the overall potential for exports of Russian agricultural products to Thailand at more than U$210 million by 2030. In the foreseeable future we expect to increase shipments of grains and grain legumes, fish and seafood, as well as oil and fat products.”
Thailand has not been a priority export market for Russia – until recently, when Western sanctions on buying Russian produce forced its exporters to look elsewhere. As a result, Russian exports of agricultural products to Thailand have almost doubled year-on-year to US$39 million in the first nine months of 2024. Russian exports of wheat flour and frozen fish saw the strongest growth, increasing by 100% and almost 80% respectively.
Krasnov said that “Fish and seafood are one of the main products in Russian agricultural exports to Thailand. Since 2019 we have managed to increase the volume of shipments more than three times by volume and 70% by value. Frozen fish made up 96% of exports. We face the challenge of maintaining the positive dynamic and expanding the assortment of Russian exports to the market of Thailand.”
Achieving these plans to increase exports will depend in large part on resolving issues related to customs regulation. While the Thai market is open for Russian wheat, imports of grain legumes are subject to prohibitive duties, limiting the ability of Russian suppliers to export to the country, Krasnov said. Meanwhile, exports of grains and grain legumes to Vietnam, Indonesia and other countries in the region are growing.
High import duties are also a barrier to exporting vegetable oil to Thailand. “Russian oil and fat products are not currently shipped to this country, and high customs duties have been imposed on exports of sunflower oil from Russia,” Krasnov said. However, he expressed confidence restrictions can be reduced through joint efforts.
Bilateral trade in agricultural products between Russia and Thailand dropped 14.8% to US$196.7 million in 2023, as Thailand’s imports from Russia fell 28.5% to US$58 million and its exports to Russia dropped 7.3% to US$138.7 million, Agroexport said in a report prepared for the business mission. Russian imports from Thailand consist primarily of canned fruit and nuts, canned fish, starch and rice.
Thailand has just become a BRICS Partner and both sides will be looking to get bilateral trade volumes back on track.
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