Fonterra stops dairy exports to Russia

Fonterra announces that it will suspend exports to Russia for the time being. Although no sanctions have been imposed, the New Zealand dairy cooperative has decided to stop supplying the country at war with Ukraine at its own discretion.

Fonterra says through public affairs director Simon Tucker that it will stop exporting dairy products to Russia for the time being and will monitor the situation closely. Fonterra does not suffer much from the export stop. About 1% of last year's export value went to Russia. According to Tucker, this mainly concerns butter that is sold in Russia. New Zealand exported a total of $240 million worth of goods to Russia last year, about half of which was dairy.

Fonterra is also physically present in Russia through the joint venture 'Unifood'. The activities of this company will continue as normal for the time being. The export interests of European dairy companies in Russia are nil, as a result of an export ban that came into effect in 2014 and is still active. 

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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