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Belarusian commodity exchange plans to register grain suppliers from Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast

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MINSK, 24 July (BelTA) - The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange plans to attract grain suppliers from Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast which posted the highest grain production among all regions of the Northwestern Federal District of the Russian Federation in 2022. To this end, Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange held a presentation for Russian exporters during a meeting of the regional association of grain market participants "Kaliningrad Grain Club", BelTA learned from the BUCE press service.

The web-based event brought together more than 20 grain producers from Kaliningrad Oblast. According to Aleksandr Shvedov, Deputy Head of Agricultural Products Trading Department at BUCE, grain is one of the most popular commodity items in the Belarusian domestic market, and its sales via the exchange have been growing steadily.

According to him, in the first half of the year, grain sales via BUCE increased in physical terms by 33% to 133,000 tonnes. Corn, fodder wheat and malting barley were in the greatest demand among Belarusian buyers.  The share of these crops in the total volume of transactions with cereals amounted to 67%. Imported raw materials account for about a quarter of grain purchases at BUCE, with the main suppliers being companies from the Russian Federation. In particular, almost 90% of malting barley sold through the exchange in the first half of the year was supplied by companies from Bryansk Oblast, Ryazan Oblast and Smolensk Oblast. "In this regard, we are interested in the arrival of agricultural producers from Kaliningrad Oblast, primarily exporters of such popular items as wheat and corn. All the largest Belarusian consumers are present at BUCE. Therefore, taking into account the high demand, we can expect rhythmic large purchases," the BUCE representative 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.

According to BUCE, this year the geography of Russian grain sellers that use the exchange mechanism to work in the Belarusian market has significantly expanded. In 2022 grain was purchased only in Belgorod Oblast, Bryansk Oblast and Smolensk Oblast. In 2023 suppliers from seven regions of the Russian Federation regularly participate in auctions and conclude transactions.

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