Following the drop in international prices, Russian grain exports may fall to 260,000 tonnes in February and 240,000 tonnes in March after hitting 435,000 tonnes in January, given pressure from growing sales from India and Australia.

The Rusagrotrans analytical centre released the figures in a research note on Thursday (Feb 28).

Grain exports were expected to be 550,000 tonnes in February, but supplies have been falling since the start of the month and totalled 214,700 tonnes from February 1-20.

Grain prices have been decreasing on the domestic market due to dynamic sales of grain from the government's intervention fund and the fall of exports.

Since July 2012, the start of the current agricultural year, Russia has exported 13.7 million tonnes of grain, while the forecast for the entire year amounts to 14.8 million tonnes.