November 22, 2012

Russia raises grain export forecast to 15.5 million tonnes

For the current agricultural year, Russia's Agriculture Ministry has increased its outlook for grain exports to 15.5 million tonnes with no intention to introduce restrictions.

The agricultural year starts on July 1 and ends on June 30.

Earlier, the ministry's outlook for grain exports stood at 10 million-11 million tonnes. Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilya Shestakov said Wednesday (Nov 21) that the ministry will start large-scale commodity interventions on the Russian grain market starting from February 2013.

"We plan to shift the bulk of grain sales to harder times - February-March (2013), we will submit this suggestion to the government for consideration," Shestakov said.

The Russian government may sell 1.0 million-1.1 million tonnes of grain from the intervention fund in 2012, the deputy minister said.