February 2, 2012

Russia's grain exports show 80% increase

For the current marketing year to February 1, Russia exported 19.08 million tonnes of grains, which is 80% more than the previous year when an export ban was in place, the Agriculture Ministry reported Wednesday (Feb 1).

The ministry said the situation on the domestic grain market was stable, with prices registering a gradual increase due to intervention purchases in the Urals and Siberia, as well as active export of Russian grain.

The ministry said the current price increase on the domestic market was beneficial to both producers and consumers of grain.

In 2011, Russia harvested 93 million tonnes of grain in clean weight, compared with 60.9 million tonnes in the drought-affected 2010, which led to an export ban being imposed until the start of the current marketing year July 1.