The Rusagro group of companies is investing 21 billion rubles in rapeseed production in the Kuzbass region with export prospects.

In 2027, a project is planned to be launched in the Kemerovo region for the cultivation and processing of rapeseeds with a value of 21 billion rubles. The Rusagro group of companies, which is the investor of the project, has signed an agreement with the Kuzbass government to establish a new production facility. According to the agreement, it is planned to process 1 million tons of raw materials at the future plant.

Siberia, especially Kuzbass, is one of the leaders in rapeseed cultivation in Russia, which is why experts consider the project relevant. Additionally, the region has trade ties with China, which is interested in importing rapeseed products. This opens up good export prospects for the future plant.

It is planned that the new production facility will be integrated into the vertical business concept of the holding. This means that it will be combined with other enterprises that are sequential stages of the production process or perform auxiliary functions. Mikhail Kreml, the chief specialist of the Kemerovo branch of the Ministry of Agriculture's Agroanalytics Center, believes that the project has good prospects and acceptable risks.

Rapeseed is the main activity of the Rusagro holding and constitutes 68% of its revenue. Expanding rapeseed processing capacities will contribute to the further development of the company's business. As a result of the increased production volumes of oilseed substances, the company's revenue in the first half of this year grew by 30%. The company's production of crude vegetable oil increased by 2.1 times compared to the same period last year.

During the project implementation, there may be difficulties in technological and scientific aspects of production, as well as in ensuring import substitution of equipment or technologies without domestic counterparts. However, the market offers many interesting solutions, and the company has most likely considered all possibilities in the project planning stage. Currently, opportunities for barter and digital transactions are actively being explored to establish cross-border settlements between suppliers and buyers.

Analysts estimate the project's payback period at five years, taking into account the growth of the export potential of the vegetable oil market and the demand for domestic oils. However, some experts warn of possible risks associated with the global pricing situation and the situation with raw materials, personnel, logistics, and borrowed resources.

The decision to establish rapeseed production in Kuzbass was made based on the analysis of data on cultivated areas, storage capacities, and processing of technical crops in the region. At the moment, the Kemerovo region produces significant volumes of rapeseed products, and the areas for cultivating oilseed crops continue to expand.

It is expected that the new production facility will meet the demand not only within the region but also for export. China is already actively purchasing rapeseeds from Kuzbass, making its export to this country promising. According to experts, processing capacities in Siberia will continue to expand, as this region is a major producer of rapeseed. There is also an expected increase in rapeseed oil production in the Far East, where potential interest in this crop is shown by Iran and India.

In recent years, Russia has significantly increased its production of rapeseed and oilseed products. The introduction of new production capacities helps to increase the volume of rapeseed oil and meal exports, which is in line with the strategy of transitioning exports from raw materials to high value-added products. China is the main importer of rapeseed processing products, but there are also prospects for deliveries to Iran and India.