On May 20, 2022, the conference “ProStarch 2022: Trends in the Grain Deep Processing Market” was held in Moscow, organized by the Association of Grain Deep Processing Enterprises. The event was held with the support of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture in a hybrid format - online and offline. The general partner of the conference is Alfa Laval.
First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Oksana Lut commented on the organization of the conference: “The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation pays great attention to measures to support the grain industry in general and the direction of deep processing of grain in particular. The deep processing industry produces dozens of types of products that are an integral part of the modern agro-industrial complex and are used in animal husbandry, food and processing industries.” She added: “The market for grain and its products is strategically important. The development of deep grain processing is due to the need to meet domestic demand, reduce import dependence on grain processing products with high added value. Deep processing also creates opportunities for the growth of domestic demand for grain, expanding the areas of its use.
The first session of the conference was devoted to global trends and their impact on the market for deep grain processing. Daria Snitko, Head of the Center for Economic Forecasting of JSC Gazprombank, spoke about the trends in the Russian agro-industrial complex and opportunities for the industry of deep grain processing. Alexey Lomanov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Union of Sugar Producers of Russia, made a presentation "New economic challenges for the sugar industry and prospects for the development of the industry." Vyacheslav Lashmankin, Executive Director of the Association of Confectionery Industry Enterprises, explained to the conference participants the current state and development prospects of the confectionery market in the Russian Federation.
Miriam Morath, Economist at the International Grains Council, based in the UK, commented: “It was a pleasure to be part of such a meaningful event to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the starch market. While the starch industry currently faces many challenges, the importance of starch in the consumer and industrial sectors will open up many opportunities in 2022-2023.”
Dr. Velamur Krishnakumar, Executive Director of GIRACT, spoke online from Switzerland and talked about current trends in the starch industry. “Clean label starches are expected to drive growth in developed markets. But the use of "clean label" starches is limited, for example, for frozen and dairy products. The high cost of native starches is seen as a limiting factor in the growth of the production of these starches. There is also a perception among end users in Europe and North America that clean label starches do not have the functionality of chemically modified starches, so their use is very limited to certain products,” he commented.
In the second session of the event, the challenges and trends of the market for high value-added products were considered. Christian Landbo, Alfa Laval's global sales manager, outlined the global trend: "There is a clear trend in the global food market towards the diversification of raw materials for the production of vegetable proteins - this is the trend for the next decade."
Pavel Paramonov, Market Research Manager at Cargill, opined that after the 2020-2021 record. the current season will definitely be the peak in terms of the production of molasses and syrups. “Although for molasses, demand growth is slowing down. The reason is the reduction of export programs of confectionery companies, as well as a general slight, but a decrease in domestic demand. Starch production is growing from year to year. 2021-2022 will not be an exception. There are several reasons for this: the growth in demand for native starch from the corrugated industry, as well as record exports of native corn starch,” the expert added.
Polina Semenova, Executive Director of the Union of Food Ingredients Producers, spoke about the situation in the ingredients market: “The situation in the ingredient sector of the food industry is really difficult - the growing shortage, logistics storm, currency fluctuations did not add optimism to food producers and suppliers of raw materials. If the primary rise in prices for ingredients was provoked by the growth of exchange rates in February-March 2022, now there has already been a basic increase in the cost of manufacturing (reverse raw material wave) due to rising energy prices and increased costs in foreign markets reproducing the main list of ingredients.” “In the sector of starch products, the most critical situation has developed in the segment of food modified starches. The acute shortage that the food and processing industries are currently experiencing is associated both with a general shortage in foreign markets of such positions as E1412, E1414, E1420, E1422 and E1442, the restriction of supplies of these products of the 3505 TNVED group by EU #5 sanctions, and with low volumes domestic production in the Russian Federation. The country does not produce even 10% of the total need for food modified starches,” the expert added.
Sergey Mikhnyuk, executive director of the National Feed Union, touched upon the urgent problem of importing basic feed additives. “So, for 4 months of 2022, the volume of lysine supplies to Russia amounted to 30,5 tons. While the volume of consumption of imported lysine in Russia in 2021 was at the level of 40 tons. That is, from January to May, imports accounted for 76,3% of total consumption in 2021. For other amino acids, such as threonine, methionine, valine, tryptophan, the situation is similar: imports amounted to 35% to 48% of the total annual consumption,” the speaker said.
Mikhail Ershov, General Director of the Additive Production Development Center, spoke about the relevance of bioethanol production in Russia. “The launch of the first stage of the project for the production of E25 fuel with a capacity of 1,5 million tons per year will provide additional demand for grain in the amount of 1,4 million tons per year. As well as additional demand for ethanol of 0,4 million tons per year, which will make it possible to fully load idle distilleries and withdraw significant volumes of alcohol from the illegal field, attract investment in the construction of complexes for deep grain processing. In addition, it is possible to create 3000 jobs in agriculture, 2500 in alcohol production, 100 in an enterprise producing E25 fuel,” the speaker explained.
Oleg Radin, President of the Soyuzkrakhmal Association, commented on the end of the conference: “The ProKrakhmal International Conference has established itself as a sought-after platform for professional discussions on a wide range of problems of global and regional development of the market for deep processing of vegetable raw materials, and the search for optimal ways to solve them. I am sure that the participants will form new approaches to solving the tasks facing the domestic agro-industrial complex in the field of deep processing of agricultural raw materials. I hope the conference is a stimulus for the development of the deep grain processing industry.”
The conference "ProStarch 2022" was attended by 50 people from Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Moldova, Denmark, Switzerland - representatives of the companies "DPI Group", "Agroplasma", "Himpack", "NewBio", "Rustark" ( KZ Gulkevichsky), Research Institute of Starch Products, Symbio, Otkritie Bank, Gorkunov Group of Companies, Ural State Agrarian University, Aston Starch Products, TavrosEcopulse, Engineering Chemical Technology Center, Alfa Laval, Selkhozinvest, TavrosEcopulse, Russian Biofuel Association, Agroprom, Tver Agroprom, Ingredion, Spasskoye, GEA Refrigeration RUS, Agrana Fruit, Novosibirskkhleboprodukt, Plemzavod-Yubileiny, "TD Dominant", "Selkhozinvest", "Khobotovsky enterprise "Krakhmaloprodukt", "URALCHEM Innovation", "Nizhny Novgorod oil and fat plant", "Agroexport", "Europak", "Agroexport", "ONH-Holding", "Puratos ”, “TFS Group”, ZERNOFF, Novozymes, Kerry, Behnbates.