February 21, 2013

Russia's grain stocks down 29% to 22.6 million tonnes

As of February 1, grain stockpiles in Russia fell about 29% to 22.6 million tonnes, compared with 32 million tonnes a year earlier.

The Moscow-based Federal State Statistics Service said Tuesday (Feb 19) in an e-mailed statement. Leading agricultural producers held stockpiles of 11.7 million tonnes, while procurement and milling companies had 10.9 million tonnes, compared with respective year-earlier levels of 17 million tonnes and 15 million tonnes.

Procurement firms and millers had about 7.1 million tonnes of stockpiled wheat, of which 5.7 million tonnes was of milling quality, said Rosstat, as the service is known. That was down from about 11 million tonnes a year earlier, including about 8.9 million tonnes of milling wheat.

Inventories fell 7.7% from a year earlier to about 5.9 million tonnes in the Central Federal District and slid almost 35% to about 5.6 million tonnes in the Volga Federal District. Stockpiles dropped 37% to about 3.2 million tonnes in the Southern Federal District and plunged 45% to 1.1 million tonnes in the North Caucasus Federal District, which are the closest to Russia's main export routes.

Rosstat's figures exclude small private farms and household reserves, which accounted for 22% of Russia's grain crop this season, according to Agriculture Ministry data.