March 13, 2014
In the current marketing year, from July 2013-June 2014, Russia is likely to export 22 million tonnes of grains, instead of the 20 million tonnes previously forecasted, the country's agriculture ministry said.
The ministry explained that the higher estimate for the marketing year was due to high world prices and the political uncertainty in Ukraine. It also added that the Ukrainian government's current challenges in managing the country's economy increased risks of Ukraine's traders failing to fulfil their contractual obligations, which increased prices on the world market, stimulating larger sales by Russian exporters.
In 2013, Russia harvested 89.3 million tonnes of grain in clean weight, 30% more than in 2012, when 68.7 million tonnes was harvested as crops were damaged by drought.
Russian grain export in the 2012-13 marketing year fell to 15.69 million tonnes from 27.2 million tonnes in the previous marketing year. The agriculture ministry expected Russia's grain export in the current marketing year to rise to 18-20 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, Russia's export prices for corn have risen for the third week in a row, while wheat prices surged as they tracked global benchmarks, Russian analytical firm SovEcon said.
Russia's corn prices rose by US$5/tonne compared with a week earlier to US$233/tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis in deep-water ports last week, according to SovEcon.
Chicago spot corn and front-month wheat added 5% and more than 7% last week, respectively. Wheat futures for May rose 3% in Paris on March 7 and edged down to €207 (US$290) on March 10. Early last week, Russia's southern regions started the early-spring grain-sowing campaign, SovEcon said. The Agriculture Ministry expects the country to sow 31.8 million hectares for spring grains this year, up 1.7% on-year.
