Moscow – December 28, 2020
In Russia, 132.9 million tons of grain were harvested this year.
This is the second-largest volume in the country’s history and was 9.7% higher than last year’s 121.2 million tonnes, the Russian statistical office said on Monday.
The record of 135.5 million tons of grain was harvested in 2017.
According to the data of the same statistical office, at the beginning of December the area of autumn sowing was 12.4 million hectares, 2.2% more than a year earlier.
Russian Agency economic researchers, had forecasted that Russia’s total grain exports in the agricultural year from June 2020 to July 2021have could be 51.2 million tons, including 40.8 million tons of wheat exports, just 100,000 tons below the 2017/18 record level.
The institute had estimated that Russia have could be export 4.9 million tons of barley too and 3.9 million tons of corn.
However, the Russian agricultural market economy institute, downgraded its wheat export forecast from 40.8 million tonnes to 36.3 million tonnes on Monday due to an upcoming wheat export tax and to the state meteorological institute’s latest estimate that forecasts 22% of autumn-sown grain was “in poor condition” in early December.
Russia is attempting to stabilize food prices with a grain export quota and wheat export tax that will be in effect from Feb. 15 to June 30.
Soviet Ag told that some farmers are expected to delay their wheat sales until July 2021 when the export tax is no longer in place.
“A significant number of farmers may decide to postpone sales until the 2021-22 season starts, hoping for a rapid strengthening of prices after the tax is lifted,”
Russia, one of the world’s leading wheat exporters in recent years, is also facing the prospect of a smaller-than-average crop due to weather concerns.
Conditions have been dry since most of the crop was planted this fall.
The share of grain sowings in poor condition was at a seven-year high as of early December.
In the 2019-20 marketing season, Russia was the world’s second-ranked wheat exporter, shipping 34.4 million tonnes to foreign markets.
The total would have been higher, but Russia announced on April 26 that it was halting exports for the remainder of the marketing year, which ended June 30, to protect domestic supply and contain prices amid upheaval from the COVID-19 pandemic and a plunge in oil prices.
