After 10 years Russia obtained permission to export grain to China

On December 17, Russia and China, within the framework of the XX summit of the two countries, signed a protocol on terms of delivery of Russian wheat to the Chinese market, Interfax reported. China allowed to export Russian grain only from the Siberian and Eastern regions, the Rosselkhoznadzor (Russia's agricultural safety watchdog) representative specified: Wheat may be supplied from the Altai and Krasnoyarsk Territories, Novosibirsk and Omsk regions. Corn, soybean, rapeseed and rice - may be exported from the Khabarovsk Territory, Primorye Territory, Trans-Baikal Territory, Amur Region and the Jewish Autonomous Region.

Conditions under which the Rosselkhoznadzor (Russia's agricultural safety watchdog) and the Main State Administration for Quality Control and Quarantine of the PRC signed the document were considered as “quite adequate” by the Russian quarantine service representative. These are standard conditions, he emphasized. In particular, in his opinion, the condition on the mandatory import of all grain in bags, that was initially set by China, was not included in the final text of the agreement. Only corn, soybeans, rice and rapeseed should be exported in bags or by special transport, the Rosselkhoznadzor (Russia's agricultural safety watchdog) representative stressed.
China banned the import of Russian wheat in 1976, recognizing its quality as unsatisfactory. Negotiations on opening the Chinese market for Russian grain have been held since 2006. At the same time, soy, which although was not under restriction, have been sold exclusively in the form of beans from the Russian regions bordering China.

Agreements between Russia and China have been in effect since December 17, as the Russian quarantine service representative specified. The Rosselkhoznadzor (Russia's agricultural safety watchdog) has not yet calculated the volume of grain that could be exported until the end of this year, according to its representative.

Over the past few years, China has been purchasing 25-30 million tons of grain annually, said director of the Sovecon analytical company Andrey Sizov. However, given the significant increase in domestic corn consumption in Primorye in the near future, Sizov does not expect any significant supplies of corn to China anyway. Soybean can be exported in volumes up to 500,000 tons (314,000 tons in the season of 2014/15), the expert believes, and Siberian wheat export volumes can "vary within a few hundred thousand tons." This figure would be significantly higher if the FSVPS obtained permission to export grain from the European part of Russia - as Ukraine did, Sizov points out.

Some major grain producers have previously expressed their interest in exporting grain to China. For example, in September 2015, Maxim Basov, Rusagro CEO, estimated the Primorye Territory potential in terms of corn exports at more than 1 million tons. Rusagro itself, according to him, expects to produce 100,000 tons of this crop within the region, and all this volume can be sent to China.

Source: vedomosti.ru