January 16, 2012

Russia's wheat export in the first 11 months of 2011 gained 9.5% on-year to 12.96 million tonnes, the Federal Customs service said Friday (Jan 13).

In monetary terms, the country's wheat exports rose 52% to US$3.13 billion.

In 2010, a severe summer heat wave and the worst draught in decades destroyed 37% of the country's crop, which then amounted to 60.9 million tonnes.

Russian authorities later imposed a ban on grain exports from August 2010 until July 2011 to stabilise domestic prices.

On Thursday, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said Russia had sold 18.6 million tonnes of grain abroad since July 1, 2011.