MINSK, 30 April (BelTA) - The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange is ready to assist companies from Lipetsk Oblast of Russia to enter the Belarusian market by providing direct access to Belarus' major wood processing, industrial, construction and agricultural companies, BUCE spokesman Roman Yaniv told BelTA.
Promising areas of cooperation were discussed during a visit of a business delegation from the Russian region to the BUCE central office. The event was organized with the support of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Lipetsk Region Export Promotion Center.
BUCE also hopes to sell Russian timber products for Belarusian consumers and also to third countries.
"Due to the rapid development of the wood processing industry, the demand for raw wood has increased significantly over the past year. In order to increase the supply of the most sought-after items such as sawlog and balance wood, we are happy to welcome Russian suppliers to the stock exchange. Since February of this year, timber companies from Bryansk Oblast, Pskov Oblast and Smolensk Oblast of Russia have been bidding weekly on BUCE. Sales volumes have been continuously growing. Transactions feature both deliveries for the needs of Belarusian woodworkers and also the export of Russian lumber to Europe - the so-called transit deals. This is certainly a promising line of business for us, and we are actively promoting it," Andrei Novikov, the first deputy chairman of the Board of BUCE said during the talks with the Russian business delegation.
The BUCE official also stressed the interest of the exchange in attracting Russian producers of sugar and by-products - beetroot pulp and molasses. According to Andrei Novikov, the demand for these products far exceeds the supply.
"Unfortunately, Belarusian manufacturers are not able to satisfy the demand from major importers from China, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and other countries. The exchange mechanism is objectively efficient. For example, six months ago the price for beetroot pulp stipulated in direct contracts concluded outside the exchange was €100 per tonne on average. The prices at the last exchange trading session was €180 per tonne. So we are ready to consider any proposals from Russian suppliers of these products, especially since Lipetsk Oblast is one of the leaders in sugar production in Russia," Andrei Novikov said.
Founded in 2004, the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange conducted its first trading session in June 2005. BUCE is one of the largest commodity exchanges in Eastern Europe. Its main function is to assist Belarusian enterprises with export and foreign companies with entering the Belarusian market. BUCE sells a wide range of metal, forestry, and agricultural products, industrial and consumer goods.
