December 24, 2012

Saudi Arabian firm sets up joint venture with Siberia's SAHO

Siberia's SAHO and a Saudi Arabian investment company have set up a joint venture to ship Russian wheat and barley to the Middle East and North Africa.

The deal is a rare one between Russia and Saudi Arabia, which consumes about 15 million tonnes of grain per year. The kingdom, the largest foreign buyer of Russian barley, imported about 2.5 million tonnes of grain from Russia in the 2011-12 crop year.

The joint venture will sell Russian wheat and barley produced by SAHO and other farmers.

SAHO, which will own 51% of the venture, aims by 2020 to become one of the top three players on the Russian grain market, which is currently dominated by international players such as Glencore.