March 2, 2010

Southeast Asia may become key Russian grain buyer

 

Russia, the world's third-largest wheat exporter, plans to ship one million tonnes of grains to Southeast Asia this year as it aims to become one of the top sellers to the region.

"It's going to be a main market for us in the next five years," Andrey Skrurikhin, a director of the Russian Grain Union, said in an interview on February 26 in Singapore, where he was attending a grain conference.

The Siberian Agrarian Holding Group of Companies aims to double its wheat output to one million tonnes in the next two years to boost shipments, said Skurikhin, who is also the deputy director general at the company.

Russia is seeking to increase exports to Southeast Asia as part of an effort to expand its share of the global grain trade. The region accounts for at least 10% of the 121.6 million tonnes of global wheat imports forecast by the USDA this year.

About 67% of Russia's wheat exports are shipped to Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Iran, according to the grain union.

Russia is also seeking access to China's grain and oilseed market, aiming to ship as much as 10 million tonnes of wheat, soy and barley a year to the Asian nation by 2030, Viktor Pokotilov, general director at Berkut Co. Ltd., a private company that manages some of the nation's ports, said in a separate interview in Singapore on February 26.