World meat industry news

Russian agricultural exports to Saudi Arabia have doubled since the beginning of the year. Almost 3 million tonnes of agricultural and food products worth 637 million dollars were shipped to the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is the largest buyer of Russian barley. As of 29 November, its deliveries increased to 484 million dollars, which is 2.3 times higher compared to the same period last year. Exports of confectionery products rose by 19% to 33 million dollars. Beef exports increased from 325 thousand dollars in 2019 to 14.6 million dollars in 2020.

The export development was facilitated by the decision of the Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) to mitigate the requirements for Russian wheat. Russia worked towards this for several years. In particular, the heads of agrarian departments of the countries negotiated. The Kingdom has purchased over 180 thousand tonnes of Russian wheat for 39.3 million dollars since shipments began in April. Besides that, this year Russia started supplying extracts and concentrates of coffee, sorghum, and chicken eggs to the Arab country. 

Grain and leguminous crops, poultry, mutton, beef, and confectionary are the most promising products for further increase in agricultural exports to Saudi Arabia.