Russia plans to supply 500,000 tonnes of grain to China in 2016

A field of wheat at the Solgonskoye farming company in Solgon village, Russia, on Sept 6, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS

MOSCOW (REUTERS) - Russia plans to export around 500,000 tonnes of grain to China in 2016, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev was quoted as saying on Saturday (June 25).

Russia was likely to supply wheat and barley and was also negotiating access to the Chinese meat market, TASS news agency quoted Tkachev as saying. "We have long been in active talks with the Chinese about supplies to the Chinese meat product market - pork, beef, poultry. It's a promising area," Tkachev said.

The Agriculture Ministry said on Friday Russia planned to supply China initially with two to three million tonnes of grain a year via a grain hub to be built in Siberia.

Sergei Levin, a deputy agriculture minister, said on Saturday the construction of the terminal would begin in September and the project's annual capacity would eventually be eight million tonnes, Interfax news agency reported.

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