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Blago Group, one of Russia's largest vegetable oil producers, plans to increase its processing capacity this year by investing in existing infrastructure, despite the difficulties of the current agricultural season and the likely decline in processing volumes throughout the industry. "The main growth point for any fat and oil company is exports. We are no exception," Dmitry Fosman, CEO of Blago Group, told Agroinvestor.

Due to market conditions, availability and cost of raw materials, the first half of the 2024/25 season proved to be an unprecedentedly difficult year for the industry. Although the market is gradually coming back to balance, many companies have reduced their processing volumes and will not be able to catch up with the planned volume until the end of the season. Therefore, the final figures for both processing and, as a result, exports may be lower than last year's figures. Nevertheless, from the point of view of long-term plans, the company is focused on increasing processing volumes, he noted.

"I think if we fulfill our plans, we will grow by 6-7% in terms of processing potential. Accordingly, this volume will be mirrored in our sales plans," said Fosman. Basically, additional volumes of products will be exported, since the domestic market is more static and inert, he said. The company has been focused on increasing the share of exports in its sales portfolio for seven years.

Last year, the Blago plants processed about 1.4 million tons of raw materials, including 1.2 million tons of sunflower and 160 thousand tons of rapeseed. Approximately 570 thousand tons of oils were produced — 500 thousand tons of sunflower oil and about 70 thousand tons of rapeseed oil, almost 40% of the total volume of packaged oils. "From the point of view of volume indicators, this is a good result," said Fosman.

In 2023, Blagoe supplied slightly more than 63 thousand tons of bottled oil, over 180 thousand tons of bulk oil and 80 thousand tons of meal products abroad. "In 2024, the market situation changed, and we shipped less bottled oil because it was economically impractical," the head of the company continues. —But on the other hand, we exported 33.5% more bulk oils — a little less than 250 thousand tons and increased external sales of meal by 6-7%, to 100 thousand tons. Therefore, we are growing in exports both in absolute and relative terms." In the sales structure, 57% accounted for the domestic market, 43% for exports. For comparison, in 2018, the ratio was 86% and 14%, respectively.

According to Dmitry Fosman, export shipments are the main growth point that allows businesses to develop, so the volume of shipments of Blagoe products abroad will increase. "We are currently actively looking for new, efficient markets for ourselves," he says. "Geographically, we are interested in all friendly markets. The big markets we focus on, which are super targeted for us, are India and China. We also consider the Israeli market to be quite interesting. Our enterprises receive Kashrut certificates, we have already supplied about 4 thousand there. tons of oil in bulk, we also ship packaged. Now we are actively working to put our brands on the shelves in retail chains in this country, we see opportunities for development in this market. The markets of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and many other African countries are also attractive to us, and we are interested in the entire Middle East and Asia. The company is simultaneously engaged in the development of all these areas."