Market News

Retailers announced downturn in prices

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Suppliers explained the price increase with the increase of product cost in foreign currencies during the devaluation of the ruble. Now retailers are waiting the same trend when the ruble is strengthening.

Director of External Communications of Auchan Russia said that prices have already fallen for cereals and canned food. As for fresh products, seasonality is very important: for example, prices for fresh fish has fallen by an average of 30% since December 2014 due to seasonality and ruble prices.

Most retailers have their own import departments, and it is easier for them to revise the prices for some imported products, they can more quickly react to changes in exchange rates. “The most notable changes can be seen in prices of vegetables, fruits, fish and seafood,”- said the representative of the Russian network of Metro Cash & Carry. Prices for fruits and vegetables have decreased by 10-11%, prices for fish – by 10-15%.

Negotiations between retailer and suppliers are in the process.

www.top.rbc.ru

 

Russia’s President and Greek Prime Minister discussed how to bypass the Russian food ban

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April 8, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Moscow. Beside other economic and political issues, they discussed the Russian food ban. Putin said that Russia couldn’t make exception for one country and that ending sanctions would be the best way. Putin said that Russia could not make an exception for Greece and lift the food ban only for that country,  but there was an opportunity for compromise: to organize joint ventures of Russian and Greek companies, in this case Greek products could be imported to Russia. “It will not cause any harm to our producers, as they will be involved in the process,” – said Vladimir Putin.

www.mk.ru

 

Russian inflation at fastest in 13 years after ruble crisis

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Russian inflation accelerated in March to the fastest on an annual basis since 2002 even as slowing weekly readings allow the central bank to press ahead with cutting borrowing costs. Consumer prices rose 16.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with 16.7 percent in February, the Federal Statistics Service in Moscow said in a statement. The median estimate of 20 economists was 16.8 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey. Prices gained 1.2 percent in the month.

Bank of Russia has started to ease monetary policy this year, following six increases in the benchmark rate last year, as the world’s biggest energy exporter enters its first recession since 2009. The economy has replaced inflation as the population’s top concern, according to a survey published by state-run pollster VTsIOM on March 31.

“Price growth could have peaked over March,” Dmitry Polevoy, chief economist for Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States at ING Groep in Moscow, said by e-mail before the statement. “It’s important that weekly and monthly inflation continue to decelerate.”

The balance of risks has shifted toward “a more significant cooling of the economy,” the central bank said in a statement March 13 after reducing the benchmark rate by 100 basis points to the current 14 percent.

Gross domestic product may shrink as much as 4 percent in 2015 and continue to deteriorate until the first quarter of next year, Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said after the March 13 decision. The regulator will consider further easing if inflation expectations slow, she said. The next meeting on rates is scheduled for April 30.

Price growth has started slowing on a weekly basis. It stabilized at 0.2 percent each week in March, the lowest since November. Weak economic activity will act as a brake on inflation, while the impact of ruble depreciation and trade restrictions that ignited price growth will wear off this year, according to the central bank.

The Russian currency has strengthened this year, showing the best performance among emerging markets in February and March. The ruble gained 1.4 percent to 55.8110 against the dollar as of 3:54 p.m. in Moscow.

“The central bank will in our view have ample room to cut rates more aggressively than priced,” Goldman Sachs economists said in e-mailed report April 2.

www.arabnews.com

Russia offers “green corridor” for Middle East produce

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The President of the Russian Customs Service, Andrei Belianinov, announced this Wednesday that Egypt, Jordan and Turkey have been offered the creation of a “green corridor” to facilitate the supply of fruit and vegetables from these countries to the Russian Federation.

During his speech in front of the Russian Duma, Blianinov stated that Moscow has issued the proposal to Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, as well as Azerbaijan, to facilitate the supply of perishable products and ensure their freshness on arrival.

It is worth mentioning that other countries, like Syria, also seek to create a “green corridor” with Russia, so as to facilitate the transfer of goods and agricultural products to Moscow, since the size of the Russian market is estimated at 12 billion Euro per year.

www.freshplaza.com

Belarusian customs statistics: Belarus as a transit channel of banned products to Russia

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According to official data of the Belarusian National Statistics Committee in 2014, after the introduction of Russian food ban on the supply of food and agricultural products from the EU, Norway, USA, Canada and Australia in August last year, trade structure in the country changed significantly. The official data of the Belarusian customs statistics indirectly confirm that Belarus became a transit channel for import of banned products to Russia after the introduction of Russian food ban.

Belarus increased the imports of items that are in the Russian list of banned products from the countries that came under the Russian sanctions. And at the same time the export of the these types of products from Belarus to Russia increased.

While the overall Belarusian exports to Russia decreased by 8.9% in 2014 down to $ 15.3 billion, the volume of export of food and agricultural raw materials from Belarus to Russia increased significantly. The main growth was for banned goods:  the import to Russia of vegetables increased by 87.2% up to $ 262.5 million, the import of fruits by 64% up to $ 171 million, the import of fish and seafood – by 44.1% up to $ 138, 2 million.

www.retailer.ru

Russian food ban may be partially lifted

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Russia on road to partial end boycott

The Russian phytosanitary authorities have started a procedure to resume the import of animal products from Greece, Cyprus and Hungary. The Russian inspection will first visit the countries for an inspection, beginning in Greece. The visits are planned for April. Included in the list of companies to be visited are firms in Germany, France and Poland.

Agreement Albania and Russia on trade
Albania and Russia have reached an agreement on resuming Albanian export to Russia. Earlier this year, Russia denied it was working on lifting the sanctions against Albania, now the end seems in sight for the trade ban.

www.freshplaza.com

Temporary ban on Egyptian potato imports

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Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) has imposed a temporary ban on the import of potatoes from Egypt.

The reason is the frequent violation of regulations in the field of plant quarantine. Russian phytosanitary services detected brown rot bacteria and golden cyst nematode in Egyptian potatoes. Since the introduction of the EU embargo on fruits and vegetables, the import of Egyptian potatoes by Russia exceeded 300 thousand tonnes.

 

EU Sanctions against Russia prolonged

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The EU leaders have decided to maintain the economic sanctions against Russia until the end of this year, as said in a statement published last week after the meeting. The sanctions are to remain in force at least until the Minsk agreements are carried out. That won’t be before the end of this year. This outcome is a compromise between proponents and opponents of the sanctions against Russia.

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Polish exports to Russia dropped by 40% after food ban

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According to the Dutch agency FVF, Poland’s fruit and vegetable exports to Russia dropped by approximately 40% last year, from 976 thousand tonnes to 561 thousand tonnes. Apples were the most affected product.

The total export of fruit and vegetables to Russia in 2014 amounted to over 561.8 thousand tonnes, of which 559.3 thousand tonnes were shipped during the first seven months of the year, before the introduction of the embargo.

This means that, between August and December, only 2.5 thousand tonnes of Polish fruits and vegetables arrived to the Russian market, compared to the 214.7 thousand tonnes shipped in the corresponding months of 2013.

Throughout 2014, Poland exported 448.9 thousand tonnes less fruit and 113.0 thousand tonnes less vegetables to Russia. Apples were the most affected. In 2014, the total export volume for this fruit amounted to 418.0 thousand tonnes, compared with the more than 580 thousand tonnes shipped a year earlier. In the period after the introduction of the embargo, only 949 tonnes were exported, compared to the 125 thousand tonnes of the previous year.

In the first seven months of 2014, fruit exports to Russia amounted to 447.8 thousand tonnes, while vegetable exports reached 111.4 thousand tonnes. Cabbages were the most exported product, followed by mushrooms and tomatoes. Besides apples, other fruits shipped to Russia included pears, strawberries and cherries.

www.freshplaza.com

Transport requirements for foreign logistics companies tighten

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Russia’s Ministry of Transportation announced that new amendments have successfully passed into law that will place stricter requirements on the documentation of foreign vehicle-based transport. The monetary penalty for failing to provide all the necessary documents has also increased from 50 thousand rubles per car to 200 thousand rubles. Russia’s Ministry of Transportation also announced that the new amendments are meant to strengthen the government’s control over foreign logistics in the country.

According to official data, foreign companies accounted for about 60 percent of the market of the international road transport market. It is speculated that the fall of the ruble and rising production costs had forced Russian logistics companies to raise tariffs to a level that is higher than many foreign competitors.

www.fruitnews.info