The relevance of Russia as a commercial destination for Uruguayan goods has been deflating over the course of the last decade. Today he is outside the top 10 destinations and is no longer a heavyweight player —as he was at the time— for beef, although It is responsible for more than 50% of butter purchases and 17% of Uruguayan cheeses.
In 2021, this commercial destination was the 13th partner in relevance with placements of US$ 118 million. A decade ago, in 2012, exports to that destination had reached US$383 million.
However, over the years, Russia has been losing weight as an option for Uruguayan goods, particularly for beef, which was found in China by a client with a voracious appetite to consume the country’s top protein. The Chinese market pays significantly higher prices than the Russian market for beef. It was because the meat trade with this market was relegated to products that cannot enter the Asian power, such as livers and tongues during the last year.
key to butter
The main exporter from Uruguay to the Russian market is Conaprole (31% of the total), the country’s leading dairy industry that had 99% of sales of that merchandise last year. In 2021, the cooperative made sales to that destination for US$37 million. According to Conaprole’s annual report, the Russian market represented barely 5% of the cooperative’s foreign sales during its last fiscal year. That destination was fourth in importance behind Brazil (26%), China (23%) and Algeria (21%).
In any case, Russia has been a historical destination for Uruguayan butter due to the good prices obtained in that country. In 2021, this merchandise was the main placement product with exports for US$27 million, this volume represented 52% of the country’s foreign sales (US$51.7 million).
On the other hand, Russia is the third destination (17%) in importance for Uruguayan cheeses, behind Mexico (24%) and Brazil (23%). In 2021, Uruguayan industries exported some US$16 million in different types of cheese to that destination.
So far this year (January-February), requests to export butter (85%) and cheese (15%) to Russia total about US$11 million, of which US$9 million correspond to Conaprole. The average price of a ton of butter exported at the beginning of the year to the Russian market was US$4,540.
Bustillo’s management to return with the butter
Uruguay was several months without being able to export butter to Russia. In August 2020, the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry reported that after “a high-level epistolary exchange maintained” between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Francisco Bustillo Bonasso, and that of the Russian Federation, Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, exports were resumed. of butter from a Conaprole plant.
What do we buy from Russia
In 2021, Uruguay imported US$101 million from Russia, so there is a trade surplus of some US$17 million in the trade balance of goods with this trading partner. Uruguay’s purchases from the Eurasian giant are concentrated in chemical fertilizers and urea (70% of the total). The main importers are the firms Isusa and the Macció Group. Meanwhile, in a second step in imports to Russia appear the purchases of natural bitumens and asphalts.
In terms of foreign direct investment in Uruguay, Russia does not have any kind of relevance for the country.
