Brazil sees Russia’s ban on the import of some foodstuffs from the United States and the European Union as a big opportunity for meat and grain exports, said the government’s secretary for agricultural policy, Seneri Paludo. Russia today banned all imports of meat, fish, milk, dairy products and fruit and vegetables from the EU and US in retaliation for Western sanctions.
Paludo said that after the announcement of the Russian boycott, authorities had granted about 90 new permits to export to Russia to beef, chicken and pork slaughterhouses and processing plants. According to the Minister of Finance, Brazil, which is the world’s largest soybean exporter, is also preparing to increase exports of this commodity and other commodities to Russia.
“Russia has tremendous potential as a consumer of agricultural commodities,” said Paludo. He compared the opportunity to Brazil’s massive increase in exports to China following the opening up of China’s agricultural commodity markets a decade ago.
Brazil exports the most beef to Russia. Russia was the biggest importer of Brazilian beef until 2012, when Hong Kong replaced it last year. Apart from meat, Brazil also exports large quantities of sugar, coffee, orange juice and bananas to Russia.
The Brazilian animal protein association ABPA said on Wednesday that Brazil would be able to make up for the entire shortfall in US chicken exports to Russia. However, according to the association, it will be more difficult to increase pork exports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reached out to allies in Belarus and Kazakhstan by phone today to discuss increasing imports to compensate for cuts from Western nations. Belarus in particular has become an important food exporter to Russia today. Moscow wants to find new export partners in Turkey, Latin American countries and the former Soviet republics.
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