February 25, 2011

Russia may lift grain ban if yield tops 85 million tonnes

Russia could end its grain ban if this year's harvest goes above 85 million tonnes, Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said Thursday (Feb 24).

An 85-million-tonne harvest would be enough for Russia to meet its internal grain needs, and the country would re-instate exports if the harvest exceeded those levels, Skrynnik said.

The size of the harvest will only be apparent in April, after the spring crop is sowed, she said.

Russia's wheat export ban went into effect in mid-August, after a crippling drought destroyed a third of the country's grain crop and sent food prices soaring. The government has said it would freeze exports until mid-2011 so that it could take stock of how the year's harvest was developing.