According to Russia’s Union of Grain Exporters, Russia has become the top exporter of peas to China, accounting for almost half of the country’s total imports and overtaking Canada in less than two years after gaining access to the $1 billion market.
The union’s data shows that in the 2023/24 agricultural season, Russia exported 1.13 million tons of peas to China, gaining a 49.1% market share. This is a significant shift from the previous years, when Canada held a dominant position of about 95% of China’s pea imports.
The rapid rise of Russian pea exports to China highlights how the country is gaining a larger share of the agricultural products import market in China, especially amid simmering trade tensions between China and Western countries.
China is using peas to produce pea protein, which is used as an ingredient in many dietary food products that are growing in popularity. The United States Department of Commerce has found China guilty of selling pea protein in the U.S. market at artificially low prices and has announced antidumping duties on pea protein imported from China.
Russia’s pea production has been booming and setting records each year since 2021, but the country lacks its own facilities to produce pea protein. China, a major producer of pea protein, granted Russia access to its market in October 2022.
Faced with Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine, Russia is seeking to diversify its trade and reorient trade flows towards countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. This shift in the pea trade is one example of Russia’s efforts to expand its agricultural exports to new markets.