According to the Association of Confectionary Manufacturers ASKOND, exports of Russian confectionery products in the first half of 2019 grew by 20% compared to the same period last year in absolute terms and by 15% in monetary terms. It is reported that confectionery companies have shipped 264,000 tons of products abroad for $ 558 million.
In January-May, exports of confectionery products from Russia amounted to 225,000 tons worth $ 474 million, follows from the data of the Federal Customs Service. Thus, in five months, the growth in the same period of 2018 in tons reached almost 25%, and in monetary terms exceeded 18%. However, in the first half of the year, the growth rate of shipments abroad will slightly decline. "A slight decline in the dynamics of confectionery exports is due to seasonality of demand," Vyacheslav Lashmankin, ASCOND CEO, said. Nevertheless, the confectionery industry in terms of export growth rates remains one of the leaders both among agribusiness companies and as a whole among producers of products with high added value, he noted.
Confectionery products in terms of exports rank fourth among the products of the Russian agro-industry. The confectionery industry annually consumes about 1.5 million tons of sugar or 33% of its production in Russia, as well as more than 1 million tons of flour. As part of the task of doubling exports of agricultural products by 2024, annual sales of confectionery products abroad should grow to more than 900,000 tons, and in monetary terms - up to $ 2 billion. At the same time, Ascond sees the industry as a baseline scenario by 2024 by 1 million tons and by $ 2.2-2.4 billion.
According to the Confectionery Market Research Center, during 2016-2017, Russia has consistently set records in terms of the supply of sweets for export in physical terms. In 2018, the record was updated: export shipments increased by 11% to 479,000 tons in the amount of $ 1.1 billion. According to Asconda, the geography of supplies totals about 70 destinations, but the main buyers remain neighboring countries: Kazakhstan (28 %), Belarus, Azerbaijan, Central Asia. From far-abroad countries, the most dynamically developing direction of Russian exports since 2016 is China. In 2018, 52,300 tons of confectionery were sent to this country, which is 36% more than the volume of 2017. In the first quarter of 2019, China increased imports by another 17%, and in general, shipments to foreign countries increased by 9%.
Africa is becoming one of the potentially interesting trends, Lashmankin says. "At the end of 2018, the volume of deliveries of Russian confectionery products to Africa amounted to 2,800 tons with an increase of 27% compared to 2017. The main countries buyers are Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia," he lists. In terms of categories, chocolate confectionery is the most popular in Africa. Egypt is also an attractive market for Russia, but for expansion in this country, Russian companies need additional measures of support from the state, primarily in terms of compensation for logistics costs and product promotion on the Egyptian market, Lashmankin added.
Source: sweetinfo.ru.
