Russian trade in non-food raw materials: focus on EU-Russia trade relations

This country fiche provides a data-based overview of Russia's trade in non-food raw materials, with an emphasis on the country's trade relations with the EU in the context of the Ukraine crisis. Russia is a leading global producer not only of energy products, but also of many other raw materials, including critical raw materials. Non-food raw materials (excluding downstream) account for 2/3 of the country's exports of goods. In 2020, Russia was an important trading partner for the EU, mainly for Fuels, but also for Minerals, Metals and Wood (as Standard product groups). Aside from energy commodities, disruptions are expected in EU supply chains of abiotic and biotic materials with high share of extra-EU imports, such as: fertilisers, wood, nickel, potash, and various categories of iron and steel. EU sourcing of some CRMs will be also impacted: vanadium, coking coal, palladium, titanium, tungsten, rhodium, aluminium and phosphorous. If imports from Ukraine and Belarus will also be disrupted, the biggest impact could be expected on EU sourcing of wood, potash, iron ores and iron and steel non-alloy. As for the impact on EU exports, Russia's share of EU exports of raw materials is relatively small, and one could expect that they could be easily re-directed towards other markets.