March 13, 2012

Russia ships 21.5 million tonnes grain since July to date

Since the beginning of the current marketing year July 1, Russia has exported 21.5 million tonnes of grain, a record amount in recent years, the Agrarian Markets Institute, known as IKAR, said Monday (Mar 12).

IKAR said, according to its estimates, Russia would be able to export no more than 26 million tonnes of grain in the current marketing year, July 2011-June 2012.

The Russian government has set the upper limit for grain exports in the current marketing year at 27 million tonnes, after which export restrictions are likely to be imposed to maintain the stability of the domestic market.

In 2011, Russia harvested 93 million tonnes of grain in clean weight compared with 60.9 million tonnes in 2010, when the crop was affected by drought. Russia's 2010 grain harvest was 37.3% less than in 2009, when 97.1 million tonnes was harvested, which forced the government to impose a ban on the export of grain until the beginning of the 2011-12 marketing year July 1 2011.