Russian importers need to look for other sources

Today Russia announced it will ban all fruit and vegetables from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway for one year. This ban is a reaction on the sanctions imposed on Russia by these countries.

Now the question is what will be the affects on all parties? Larissa Khachikyan from Russian importer Friend Fruits said they are hoping it will be only for a short time. “We now have to look for imports from South Africa, Latin America and China.” The difficulties to source for example apples out of China, is that they have different products. “We will stay in contact with our good relations in Western Europe and hope it will be solved very soon.”

Europe
According to IHS, Russia is the largest export market for fruit and vegetables from the EU, at €2billion a year. Belgium exported last year €490 million in food exports, primarily fruit, to Russia. The Netherlands export approximately €600 million a year to Russia.

United States
Russia is a big market for U.S. specialty crops. In 2013, Russia imported $138 million in almonds, $31 million in pistachios, $13 million in fresh apples, $12 million in pears and $2.7 million in grapes, reported the Packer. The total amount of Russian food imports are $1.6 billion out of the United States.

Countries that benefit
China, South Africa, Serbia, Azerbeijan, Turkey and Latin American countries have to fill the gaps in the local market in Russia. Whether consumer prices in Russia will go up is something that only time will tell, but Medvedev warned against possible attempts to use the situation to drive up prices.

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