Russia: Malt sales up by 4.1% in 2015-19

Russia’s malt sales in 2015-19 increased by 4.1% to total 1.27 mln tonnes, Profibeer reported on February 17 citing data by BusinesStat.

Barley malt holds absolute leadership on the nation’s malt market. In 2019, its share of total malt sales was 94.7%. Rye malt accounted for 2% and wheat malt for 1% of sales last year.

Almost all barley and rye malt sold in Russia is produced locally. In 2019, imported barley malt only accounted for 5.1% of total barley malt sales, and imported rye malt held a 5.2% share, respectively. The only segment with significant dependence on imports is that of wheat malt – Russia’s total output of wheat malt last year was 2.1 thousand tonnes whereas imports totalled 10 thousand tonnes.

The new Technical Regulation of the Eurasian Economic Union “On the Safety of Alcoholic Beverages” which will come into effect in early 2021 will allow manufacturers to replace up to 50% of malt with unmalted grain or grain products in their recipes (versus up to 20% as per current legislation). The industry observers expect the new regulations to result in a decline in malt sales on the Russian market in 2021-24.

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