MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Containerized export shipments of agricultural produce from Russia surged by more than a factor of 2.5 in annual terms as of the end of 2023, agro-industrial sector development head of the Russian shipping company Kristina Arshieva said.

"It can be stated as of the end of 2023 that export shipments of agricultural goods in containers turned out to be rather precedent and high. The figure of 2023 was more than 2.5 times above the indicator of 2022," she said.

Positive forecasts are in place for 2024 also, Arshieva noted.

Grain commodities stood at 53% of total Russian containerized exports of agricultural products, she noted. Oil crops amounted to 27% at the same time.

China became the main beneficiary as of the turn of the last year. "We started noticing continuously increasing interest of shippers in new locations as of the year-end - India, Pakistan, and Egypt. Thus we can say a new tone has already been set in 2024, that we are already considering new markets exactly for containerized cargoes," she added.