March 13, 2012

Russia to set prices for 2012 harvest on state's intervention fund

To be able to purchase grain from the 2012 harvest for the state's intervention fund by the end of Friday, Russia's Agriculture Ministry plans to set the prices, it said Monday (Mar 12).

In December 2011, the ministry set prices to buy grain from the 2011 harvest at RUB3,900-5,000 (US$132-169) per tonne.

As of February 28, the government purchased 10,670 tonnes of grain from the 2011 harvest for the intervention fund, down 34% on the week, the state-owned United Grain Company said.

Russia's 2012 crop is likely to be flat compared to 2011 at over 93.5 million tonnes, the ministry has said.