China has increased the volume of exports from Kamchatka

A rapid increase in exports from Kamchatka to China has been observed since the beginning of 2022, Kommersant was told at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Kamchatka Territory. At the same time, among the problems that exporters face, the Kamchatka Chamber of Commerce and Industry notes the limitation of cooperation between a number of Chinese banks and Russian banks.

“There is a multiple increase in exports for all nomenclature positions. Thus, the supply of salmon increased nine times, and nickel – five times,” said Dmitry Korostelev, president of the regional chamber of commerce and industry, at a meeting with a delegation from the Russian-Chinese Business Council Association in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

From January to May of this year, 120,214 thousand tons of goods were exported. Growth compared to the same period in 2021 (44,631 thousand tons) amounted to 2.7 times. In monetary terms, goods worth 167.5 million US dollars were exported (for the five months of 2021 – by 87.6 million). Growth – 1.9 times.

Fish products (salmon, except for sockeye salmon, halibut, herring, pollock), fishmeal, nickel concentrate and fuel (aviation and diesel fuel used for bunkering aircraft and ships) occupy a traditional place in the range of Kamchatka goods supplied to the PRC.

At the same time, there is a decrease in the volume of imports of Chinese goods to the Kamchatka Territory in physical terms, but an increase in monetary terms. From January to May 2022, 1.8 million tons of goods were delivered from China to the Kamchatka Territory (a decrease by 2.7 times compared to 2021) in the amount of $6.9 million (an increase of 1.7 times).

In the range of Chinese goods supplied to the Kamchatka Territory, a traditional place is occupied by machinery, mechanisms and equipment for the fishing industry (refrigeration equipment, engines, forklifts), ship equipment (ropes and cables), building materials (foamed polystyrene, pipes).

“A number of the largest Chinese banks (the New Development Bank, the Bank of China, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and some others) stopped or limited cooperation with Russian banks, which, in turn, affected the work of other Chinese banks,” said Dmitry Korostelev. According to him, there are cases of suspension or termination of acceptance by Chinese commercial banks of payments from Russian importers. “In addition, there are delays in the implementation of transfers. Perhaps in the latter case, this is due to the activities of non-Chinese correspondent banks. When making transactions, the conclusion of contracts in Chinese yuan is often recorded, as well as cases when Chinese counterparties under contracts ask for 100% prepayment,” he said.

Guzel Latypova, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky