Chapter 2: Russia’s Development as a Top Player in World Grain Trade

Abstract

AbstractDuring the late Soviet period, Russia (along with the Soviet Union as a whole) was a major importer of grain, as well as soybeans and soybean meal, which were used to help feed the country’s growing livestock sector. The substantial reform-driven contraction in the livestock sector during the 1990s largely eliminated the need for grain imports. Beginning around 2000, Russia began to export grain, and into the 2010s it became major supplier on the world market. During 2016–2019, Russia exported on average 44 million metric tonnes a year, 10–14 percent of total world grain exports. The country’s dominant grain export is wheat, with Russia providing in the late 2010s around 20 percent of world market sales, thereby supplanting the United States as the world’s top wheat supplier. This chapter examines how Russia has developed into a major grain exporter, with the focus on how growing grain production since 2000 has generated surpluses for foreign sale.