January 26, 2012

Russia to buy lesser grain up to June

According to the USDA, the grain exports of Russia will be significantly sluggish from now until June because the three major exporting provinces have exported most of their stocks.

The southern Rostov, Krasnodar and Stavropol regions accounted for 85% of Russia's more than 18 million tonnes of total grain exports in July through December, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service report, dated January 19, on the USDA website.

"Exports, however, are expected to fade during the second half of the marketing year as domestic demand for grain remains strong, and stocks of grain available for export have decreased," according to the report. Russia's grain exports are not expected to exceed 24 million tonnes in the marketing year, it said.

Russia's grain exports reached 19.5 million tonnes as of this week, a record figure for this time of the year, Interfax cited First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov as saying in Stavropol.

Russia's grain and pulses crop rose 54% to 93.9 million tonnes in 2011 compared with a year earlier, USDA's report said, citing Russia's State Statistical Service data. The wheat crop rose 35% to 56.2 million tonnes and the barley harvest more than doubled to 16.9 million tonnes, according to the report.