April 26, 2011

Russia's face grain supply shortage

Russia's grain stocks fell 20% to 26.2 million tonnes by April as compared with the same period in 2010, head of Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky said Monday (Apr 25).

According to Zlochevsky, the stocks will be lowered to 19.7 million to 20 million tonnes by July 1.

He said the stocks have been created due to the grain export embargo since last summer.

"Actual harvest amounted 66 million tonnes in 2010, while the official number was 60.9 million tonnes," he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

As a result, the domestic prices for grain fell sharply, Zlochevsky noted.

He believed the Russian government could resume grain export under current conditions, because the commodity's falling price erased the incentives for farmers.