Page 70 - RusRPTOct20

5.2.1 ​Import/export dynamics
The volume of trade has been reduced but the structure of Russia’s trade remains the same.​ China is by far Russia’s biggest trade partner according for 14.2% of the exports and 22.3% of the imports.
The Netherlands is the next biggest export partner, but much of that is actually trade with Russian companies that are domiciled there. And Germany remains the third largest export partner and second most import partner.
Trade between China and Russia totalled a $68.6bn in the first eight months of 2020, marking a 3.2% decrease year-on-year​, the Chinese General Administration of Customs said on September 6. ​According to the freshly-published data, Chinese exports to Russia from January to August decreased 0.8% compared to the same period last year, totalling $31bn, while imports from Russia to China ​decreased​ 5.2% year-on-year to total $37.5bn. In August alone, China imported $4.5bn worth of Russian goods and exported $5.2bn worth of its own goods to Russia, the data shows.
In August, car imports were up 35% y/y, to 32,800, reports Ukravtoprom,
the vehicle industry association. In contrast, imports of new cars were down 16% y/y, to 7,000. Through August, Ukraine imported 206,500 used cars, four times more than new cars.
Russia may export a record 5.8mn tonnes of grain, including 5.1mn tonnes of wheat, in September, ​but the figures may contract in October, Oleg Sukhanov, head of the research and forecasting department of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR), told PRIME on September 30. “As of September 28, exports of Russian wheat amounted to 4.4mn tonnes, while total grain exports stood at 5.3mn tonnes. We estimate the official wheat export for the full month at 4.9–5.1mn tonnes, and total grain exports at 5.7–5.8mn tonnes, which will set another record for this season,” he said. But exports of 5mn tonnes would be a great result for October even though it could have been 6mn tonnes or more -- restrictions connected to overloading triggered serious problems with car transportation companies unable to transport grain to the ports due to higher tariffs, he said.
70 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ October 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com