MINSK, 10 January (BelTA) – As many as 317,000 deals worth Br3.3 billion were sealed at the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) in 2017, which was up 29% versus 2016, BelTA learned from BUCE spokesman Roman Yaniv.
“For the first time ever, forest products accounted for the biggest share in the BUCE's turnover (Br1.3 billion worth of deals, up 41% from 2016). The growth was primarily driven by trade in round timber. More than 3 million cubic meters, or 75% of the resources put up for sale, were traded in 2017. As a result, round timber was the subject of most deals in the forest product section,” Roman Yaniv remarked. In his words, Belarusian companies purchased Br634 million worth of unprocessed timber, up 45% from 2016. The export of this product reached Br154 million (down 11%).
The second place in the BUCE's total turnover went to sawn wood products bound for export with the deals worth Br317 million (up 44% from 2016). Wood waste was third, with over Br71 million of this group of products sold abroad.
Trade in metal goods recorded a 16% increase in 2017. The uptrend is due to the increased supply of coal on the domestic market (up by 280% to Br75 million), and a 10% increase in sales of ferrous metals and ferrous metal products to Belarus' construction and industrial companies. There was a positive momentum in trade in other groups of metal goods sold at the BUCE.
Trade in agricultural products was on the rise in 2017, too. The volume of related deals exceeded Br585 million, jumping by 21% from 2016. The growth was primarily driven by such in-demand items in Belarus as oil cakes, grain and feed additives. Trade in vegetable oils surged by 78%, trade in meat by 83%, trade in dried milk skyrocketed eleven times. Technical casein and meat exports were the only exports that were in an uptrend in 2017.
With e-trade on the rise, the share of industrial and consumer goods in the BUCE's total turnover went up from 6.8% in 2016 to 8.4% in 2017. In an effort to diversify and increase the trade and procurement efficiency, Belarusian and foreign commercial entities reached 42,000 deals worth Br273 million, up by 59% from 2016. The top-5 in-demand groups of goods in 2017 were construction materials, machines, equipment, spare parts, and food products.
As of 1 January 2018, there were 18,538 companies accredited at the BUCE, including 3,831 non-resident companies from 59 countries.
