Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022, there have been intensifying concerns that disruptions in the two economies’ trade flows would have disastrous consequences for the rest of the world. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of oil and petroleum products, and, together with Ukraine, it accounts for a third of global wheat and barley exports. The concerns are that the war could threaten food and energy security in regions that rely heavily on imports from the two countries.
The ASEAN+3 region, as a whole, has limited direct trade links with Russia and Ukraine. However, at the commodity level, individual economies rely more significantly on Russia and/or Ukraine as a source for imports or market for their exports. This note traces the different ways through which the war could affect individual economies via the trade channel. The analysis at the commodity-level touches on ASEAN+3 economies’ trade with Russia and/or Ukraine in energy, selected agricultural goods, noble gases and metals, vehicles, as well as travel services, before concluding with overall trade implications for the region’s economies.