Market News

“Dixy” revenue grew up by 89.5% for 6 months of 2012

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Total consolidated revenue of “Dixy” (including “Victoria” revenue since the acquisition of 15 June 2011) for 6 months of 2012 increased by 89.5% in rubles (77.1% in U.S. dollars) compared to the same period of the last year and amounted to 70.9 billion rubles ($ 2.3 billion), as the company representatives said.
Total revenue of “Dixy” for 6 months in 2012, based on pro-forma report  (including “Victoria” revenue from the beginning of 2011) grew up by 20.7% in rubles (12.8% in U.S. dollars), compared to the same period of the last year.

Lamy hails Russia’s WTO accession ratification

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23 July Director-General Pascal Lamy welcomed ratification by the Russian government of the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization and said he looked forward to Russia taking a seat next month at the table of trading nations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law 21 July Parliamentary legislation bringing Russia’s trading laws into compliance with the international standards set under the WTO. The presidential approval follows passage of accession implementation legislation 18 July by the Federal Council, the upper house of Parliament and by the lower house, the Duma, on 10 July. 23 July Russia officially notified the WTO Secretariat that the ratification process was completed thereby clearing the way for the country to become the organization’s 156th member on 22 August.

“It has been a long road to reach this destination but today, Russia has cleared the final hurdle and on 22 August it will take its rightful place at the table with family of trading nations, becoming the WTO  156th member. I look forward to Russia joining us next month,” said Mr. Lamy.

In 2011, Russia was the world’s ninth largest exporter, shipping $522 billion in goods and $54 billion in services to its trading partners. Last year, Russians imported $323 billion in goods and $90 billion in services.

Source: www.wto.org

What can we expect for the apples market after Russia’s accession to the WTO?

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According to the WTO agreements, duties for almost all kinds of fruit and vegetable production in Russia will decrease greatly after Russia’s accession to the WTO, while, according to some

unconfirmed information, the duties for apples may become almost two times less.

However, the European exporters comment the advantages of  Russia’s membership in the WTO with caution. Suppliers say that the price will depend on the reference prices, which will be established by the customs. Besides, there are many predictions about the devaluation of the ruble.

Source: www.fruitnews.ru

Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus Keep Customs Union

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Russia is to maintain the Customs Union with Kazakhstan and Belarus according to Emily Balsamo from the Moscow Office of Bord Bia – Irish Food Board. The Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia (CU) was formed with the goal of eliminating international tariffs between the three countries, creating a common economic space.

Complete fruition of the policies of the Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia has occurred only within the past few months, finally creating a free trade area with a common external tariff.  Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are currently in talks with the supranational committee that heads the Customs Union with the intention of joining.  Ukraine has not joined to date due to apprehension of it impacting on their planned WTO accession.

This raises the question of reconciliation of this pre-existing common economic space with Russia’s WTO membership in the near future.
Belarus and Kazakhstan are currently observer governments to the WTO, not members, and are thus not subject to WTO imposed trade liberalization. Also, how will Russia implement WTO policies while continuing to be a part of a common economic space with two countries that are not members of the WTO?

Russia will fully accede to the WTO later this month after the ratification of all relevant documents by the Russian government, parliament and president. Although tariff rates under WTO membership have not yet been released, it is widely understood that membership will greatly facilitate trade and importation to Russia.

The Customs Union of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia will continue through Russia’s WTO accession, likely leading to facilitation of importation to Kazakhstan and Belarus as well. In fact, Russia’s accession has incited strong interest in Belarus’ and Kazakhstan’s future accession, with Russia formally encouraging the EU to support accession of the two countries.

Source: www.thefishsite.com

Argentina: Apple and pear exports drop 30%

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Apple shipments fell by 38% and pear sales to Russia fell by 12%. Regional fruit shipments destined for overseas markets reached 273,300 tons on June 15th. The figure represents a fall of 32% compared to consolidated exports for the same period of last year. This was revealed in a recent study, by the North Patagonian port terminal, in which it is detailed that pear sales overseas reached just over 196,300 tons, 27% lower than what was reached in the same season of 2011.

As for apples, the collapse was even greater. Statistics showed that 72,400 tons were exported, 38% less than last year. The data included information about the regional fruit shipments sent only through the port of San Antonio and Bahia Blanca. However, it is noteworthy that these terminals account for 85% of exports to overseas markets.

The report highlights that for Northern Patagonia, Russia remains the main destination of regional export supply. According to the report, shipments to St. Petersburg reached about 108,000 tons of fruit, of which more than 53,000
were for pears and 24,400 apples.

Note that Russia remains an important destination for valley pears. Shipments this year experienced a drop of only 12% compared with the previous year. It must be noted that the average fall for valley pears bound for overseas stood at 27%.

When analyzing the evolution, that the region has undergone in apple sales to Russia, we see that the drop in shipments in this season is close to 50%. An important figure, given the fact that two years ago Russia imported from Argentina
90% of the apples from the Southern Hemisphere. Today that ratio is 50%.

Bahia Blanca´s port regional fruit Shipments  reached, so far this year, 11,600 tons (5% of the total overseas sales), reflecting a decrease of 7% compared with records from the previous season.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

X5 chief executive steps down

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Despite only being in role for a year, poor results have resulted in Andrei Gusev’s resignation

On the day that Russian’s leading grocery retailer X5 Retail Group released a mixed set of results for the second quarter and first half of the year, its chief executive officer Andrei Gusev has announced his resignation.

According to a press release from the company, Stephan DuCharme, a member of the group’s supervisory board, will step into the role on a temporary basis with the board set to begin a search for a long-term replacement.

X5’s operational results revealed that second quarter like-for-like sales fell 1.1 per cent, following drops of 3.9 per cent and 2 per cent in the two previous quarters, while half-yearlike-for-like salesdropped 2.5 per cent.

Source: www.fruitnet.com

Russia: Citrus prices hit rock bottom due to oversupply

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Stas Poluektov, representative of the Russian importer Eurofruit-SPb, assured that the citrus market in Russia (particularly mandarins and limes) is in a much worse situation than last year. Stas says that “due to an oversupply of citrus in the Russian market, prices have been too low. There is too much fruit in the market, which has had a great impact on prices.”

One of the main reasons why there is too much citrus in the Russian market is because of the great volume of citrus imported from South Africa, which has affected Argentinian citrus and the industry as a whole. Those most benefited from this oversupply have been the Russian consumers, who have had much cheaper fruit due to the huge supply.

Eurofruit-SPb expects to continue importing Argentinian citrus until the end of October, and if necessary, the season will be extended until November.  Stas Poluektov expects the market to stabilise in August, which is when better prices are expected for Argentinian citrus.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Magnit attracts higher sales

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Like-for-like sales increase 3.5 per cent during the opening half of the year

Russian retailer Magnit has revealed that its sales climbed by 3.5 per cent during the opening six months of 2012, when compared with the same period of 2011.

Despite the growth, the figure represented a drop on the first quarter of 2012, when year-on-year sales growth came in at 4.12 per cent, Reuters reported.

Consolidated net sales soared by over 32 per cent to RR207.5bn (€5.1bn), with store openings boosting overall selling space by 31 per cent.

June sales alone increased by 33.8 per cent to RR36.4bn (€897m), the group said.

Source: www.fruitnet.com

IV Конгресс рестораторов и отельеров Северо-Запада России

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27 июля 2012 года в Санкт-Петербурге пройдет IV Конгресс рестораторов и отельеров Северо-Запада России. Место проведения – отель Sokos Hotel Palace Bridge (Васильевский остров, Биржевой пер., 4).

В Конгрессе принимает участие более 350 руководителей ресторанов и отелей из разных городов России. Тематика Конгресса-2012: “HoReCa: тренды, технологии, инструменты в ресторанном и гостиничном бизнесе”.

В ходе события будут приготовлены блюда из черной трески из Аляски.

Более подробная информация о мероприятии на сайте www.nha.ru

Argentina: Russian market receiving half of pear production

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Statistics provided by Patagonia Norte indicate that, during the first half of the year, overseas pear exports have reached 201,700 tonnes. This figure accounts for 71% of the total fruit exports leaving San Antonio and Bahía Blanca (Argentina) and indicates a 26% fall in sales when compared to the first half of 2011.

Russia was the main client, as approximately 89,000 tonnes were shipped there, meaning that 44% of the total sales were destined for Saint Petersburg. The second largest client was the Netherlands, where 30,200 tonnes of pears were shipped. And the third place was for the US, with 28,200 tonnes.

In regards to apples, overseas exports reached 76,700 tonnes, showing a 36% fall compared to consolidated data from the first semester of 2011.

Russia was also the main destination for this product with 28,700 tonnes shipped, representing 37% of all the exports leaving San Antonio and Bahía Blanca. The second destination in importance was the Netherlands, with 11,600 tonnes purchased. And very close behind Algeria, with 11,500 tonnes of Argentine apples imported.

Source: www.freshplaza.com