October 21, 2008

Russia's grain exports exceed previous years'

Rates of Russian grain export this year increased as compared to the previous years, but are expected to fall in the near future, declared Alexander Korbut, the vice-president of Russian Grain Union.

The exceeding of last year's index totaled 309,000 tonnes in July, 570,000 tonnes in August and 698,000 tonnes in September. During the agricultural year since July 2008, Russia has already exported 7.3 million tonnes of grain.

In the nearest months, the rates of export will decrease due to fallen prices on the world market. In October 2007, Russia exported 3.15 million tonnes of grain, which broke a record during all recent years. During two weeks of October 2008, the export totaled 1.05 million tonnes.

According to the forecast of Grain Union, in this agricultural year, July 2008 - June 2009, grain export from Russia will total 20-21 million tonnes, but the situation depend on the quality of the grain and the world prices.