Bank says China tops list of beef importers from Russia

In the first quarter of 2021, CHINA became the largest buyer of Russian beef, supplies increased 20 times, and the share of China in total exports of this type of MEAT from RUSSIA exceeded 55%, the press service of the Russian Agricultural Bank (RSHB) told RIA Novosti.

"According to the results of the first three months of this year, China topped the list of the largest importers of Russian beef, surpassing the leader of last year's rating, Vietnam," the press service said, citing a report by the Center for Industry Expertise (CEE) of the RSHB.

The volume of supplies of domestic beef to China in the first quarter of 2021 increased by more than 20 times year-on-year, to 3.663 million tons, while its exports in general over the same period increased by 2.5 times, to 6.5 thousand tons. The press service clarified that the statistics, which include edible offal of cattle, does not take into account Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

“High growth rates of exports (of beef from the Russian Federation – ed.) in the first quarter of this year are explained both by the low base effect and the competitive price, which makes Russian beef popular among Chinese consumers,” said Andrey Dalnov, HEAD of the COE.

China, due to the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in 2018-2019 and the fall in domestic pork production, significantly increased meat imports in 2019-2020: beef doubled compared to 2018, poultry meat - 3 times, and pork - 2.6 times.

Dalnov believes that the need to keep procurement high will remain for at least five years while the effects of the ASF outbreak are felt. “Therefore, in the coming years, China will remain the largest importer of Russian producers, and Russian beef imports to China will continue to grow at a high pace,” the expert believes.

Also in the list of the largest importers of Russian beef, the purchases of which showed a positive trend in the first quarter, are Hong Kong (234 thousand tons), Saudi Arabia (497 thousand tons) and Uzbekistan (256 thousand tons). Purchases were reduced by Ukraine (78 thousand tons), Vietnam (415 thousand tons) and Ghana (295 thousand tons).

Dalnov believes that remaining restrictive barriers, bureaucratized market access procedures, and fierce competition prevent a more active diversification of the geography of deliveries.

The COE notes that a gradual increase in beef production in the Russian Federation has been observed since 2018: then it amounted to 1.608 million tons in carcass weight, and by the end of 2020, the volume of cattle production increased by 0.3%, to 1.631 million tons. According to the results of the first three months, beef production in Russia remained at the level of last year, amounting to 314,000 tons.

"According to our forecasts, in the coming years, production will grow at an average rate of 1.5% per year, primarily due to an increase in production volumes in agricultural organizations and farms engaged in the cattle breeding segment," Dalnov said.