April 9, 2007

 

Russia expected to export 12 million tonnes of grain this year

 

 

Russia said it is exporting 12 million tonnes of grain in this agricultural year (July 2006 to June 2007) compared to 11.7 million tonnes the previous year, Nikolai Demyanov, marketing director at the International Grain Co., told Interfax.

 

Exports of wheat and barley have averaged 11.2 million in the past five years. Russia is expected to export 10 million tonnes of wheat and about 2 million tonnes of barley this year, he said.

 

Russia exported 8.6 million tonnes of wheat in the period from July 2006 through March 2007, he added.

 

Russia has become a major player on the world grain market, and is now the sixth largest wheat exporter after the US, Canada, the European Union, Australia and Argentina, Demyanov said.

 

Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan have confidently entered the world market, he said.

 

Wheat from the three countries enjoy strong demand and there is potential for growth.

 

Russia's share of world wheat exports would be 9 percent this year, and the share of the three countries combined would be 16 percent, he said.

 

Russia exports 19.4 percent of its wheat to Europe, 45.9 percent to Asia and a third  to Africa, according to the International Grain Co.

 

Russia is now looking at the markets of Bangladesh, Georgia and Azerbaijan," Demyanov said.

 

He noted there is strong demand for Russian barley in Mediterranean countries, but the main buyer is Saudi Arabia, which accounts for about 40 percent of Russian barley exports.

 

The International Grain Co. forecasts that Russia's gross grain harvest would increase to 81 million tonnes this year from 78.4 million tonnes in 2006.