The decrease in the volume of grain supplies led to the fact that the total trade turnover between the Russian Federation and the Sultanate of Oman in 2021 decreased by 80%.
The country’s food security is a priority for Oman, and the local government is actively working on this.
There are certain successes: for example, if we compare 2021 with 2020, then the production of agricultural products increased by about 8%. This applies to both the crop and livestock industries.
However, Oman primarily grows vegetables, fruits and berries.
Despite the fact that the country has 1.4 million hectares under agricultural land, grain cultivation is at a fairly low level: only about 7%.
In the same time:
40% of the land is occupied by fodder crops
24% dedicated to vegetables
30% — for fruits
In this regard, Oman has to purchase grain in large enough volumes in foreign markets.
At the same time, animal husbandry is well developed in the country.
For example, in 2021, about 330 thousand tons of milk and 130 thousand tons of poultry meat were produced.
Oman has been especially successful in fishing: the volume of fish produced was about 0.9 million tons.
Structure of Omani agro-industrial complex imports
A significant place in this structure is occupied by milk powder, cigarettes, palm oil, poultry meat. As well as risk and confectionery.
If we talk about grain imports, Oman buys most of all rice (about 38%).
For example, in 2021, about $173 million was spent on its acquisition. The Sultanate also buys wheat and corn.
In addition, the state is actively purchasing vegetable oil, including palm, sunflower and soybean, as well as olive and corn.
The main countries that supply agricultural products to Oman are the United Arab Emirates, India, and Saudi Arabia.
Also in the top 10 are Brazil and Ukraine, Indonesia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia.
In total, they supply 74% of its agricultural imports to Oman.
What does Russia supply to Oman?
First of all, this is wheat, which makes up almost 90% of Russian exports to Oman. It is also sunflower oil, poultry meat and confectionery.
In 2021, compared to 2020, wheat supplies decreased by 80%, which caused almost the same decrease in total exports, as well as trade between countries.
The volume of delivered wheat decreased from 430 thousand tons to 63 thousand tons.
This is mainly due to the fact that this time Russia’s products were replaced by similar products from other supplier countries. However, in the future, it is quite possible to resume deliveries.
