According to experts, by 2030 the volume of annual beet pulp exports from Russia may well reach 1.6 million tons.
In less than 2024, the volume of beet pulp exports from Russia reached approximately 1.4 million tons.
This is 1.3 times more than for the same period of the previous year, which can be considered a very good dynamic, experts believe.
At the same time, the largest purchases of pulp are made by countries such as China, Latvia and Turkey.
At the same time, the structure of the pulp market in Russia is such that the lion’s share of it is exported, since domestic consumption is quite small.
This product is used in animal husbandry, but the development of the pulp market within the country is slow. Although theoretically all the produced pulp could be used by Russian livestock breeders, in practice this is still a long way off, because the demand for it from them is currently quite low.
Thus, the use of pulp has remained standard for many years — it mainly goes abroad.
As for the structure of pulp exports, it has undergone significant changes.
Previously, the leading importer was the European Union, but now it deliberately refuses to purchase Russian goods, including pulp.
In the summer of 2023, the European Union completely banned the supply of regular pulp, while maintaining the possibility of importing molasses.
Now this category of products has been subject to a prohibitive import duty at the level of the price of the product itself. Therefore, export to the European Union becomes almost impossible for some time.
In this regard, it is necessary to actively look for new markets. However, there are also difficulties here, experts admit.
The thing is that beet pulp is one of the cheapest types of feed, so the cost of logistics is extremely important for it.
And for the most part, the pulp is produced in the central part of the country. In order to export it, you first need to take it to a seaport, for example, to the Baltic or Novorossiysk.
Taking this into account, as well as subsequent transportation by ship, the sugar factory that produced the pulp will ultimately receive a very small portion of the revenue, which makes such a scheme practically impractical.
However, recently the scheme of exporting pulp to China has been gaining popularity.
There are no difficulties with logistics here due to the fact that China actively supplies many goods to the Russian Federation in containers that are returned empty.
It turns out that filling them with pulp allows it to be delivered to China almost free of charge, which is very beneficial for both parties.
At the same time, experts see potential in developing the domestic pulp market, as well as increasing supplies to countries that border the regions that produce this product.
