MINSK, 8 February (BelTA) - Belarus launched supplies of its agricultural products and foodstuffs to 20 new markets in 2020, Aleksei Bogdanov, Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry, told a press conference on 8 February, BelTA has learned.
“Belarusian agricultural produce and food products were supplied to 116 countries in 2020. Supplies were launched 20 new markets. They included Kuwait (pastry and confectionery), Nepal (proteic substrates), Algeria and Madagascar (flour), Congo (corn seeds), Mali (corn grits), Morocco (beetroot pulp), Namibia (milk powder), Somalia (sugar), Sierra Leone (egg processed products), Equatorial Guinea (poultry), South Sudan (whole milk powder). The list also comprised Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Djibouti, Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and Croatia,” said Aleksei Bogdanov.
Russia, Kazakhstan, and China are in the top three in terms of volume. Russia accounted for 74.4% of Belarus' agricultural exports in 2020, down 5.3% from 2019 (to $4.3 billion). “Russia is our main trade and economic partner and accounts for a big part of Belarusian food exports. We, however, have a task to diversify our markets. We are actively working in this area. We need to preserve what we have achieved in traditional markets, while developing exports to other countries, growing in volume and expanding the range. Russia invests a lot in the development of its own agricultural business, so we are looking ahead and gradually redirect our food supplies to other markets,” explained Aleksei Bogdanov.
According to him, supplies of Belarusian agricultural products to the Chinese market showed rapid growth in 2020 (1.9 times to 2019). Belarus exported products worth $255.2 million to China. Belarus' main exports to China are meat and meat products (beef and poultry), milk and dairy products (milk powder, whey powder, whole milk products, ice cream, cheese, butter), rapeseed oil, and flax fiber. Belarus also made its first supplies of sugar, starch, potato chips and fish products to the Chinese market.
The CIS countries (without Russia) accounted for 11.8% of Belarus' total agricultural exports in 2020, or $681 million, up 1.9%. The share of non-CIS countries increased by 3.5% to make up 13.8%, or $796 million. Exports to the European Union increased by 45.4% to $338.5 million, to Americas and the Caribbean by 33.6% to $9.4 million, to Africa by 64.7% to $7.9 million, to Asia and Oceania by 83.4% to $356.2 million.
