Russia can keep up the pace of grain exports in the coming crop year, the head of Russia's Grain Union said on Wednesday, saying damage from a drought was not enough to dent the exportable surplus significantly and carryover stocks were plenty. Union head Arkady Zlochevsky told a briefing that damage from a dry spring was mostly concentrated outside the southern breadbasket regions which supply the vast bulk of Russia's exports.
"The drought is localised. Not one region declared an emergency. Volgograd, part of Rostov, Penza and Lipetsk all suffered badly," Zlochevsky told a briefing. "This will reduce the exportable surplus, but not catastrophically." "Carryover stocks will be about 20 million tonnes, so the exportable surplus will be about 30 million tonnes." He said Russia's harvest in the upcoming crop year would be 94 million tonnes, in line with this year's, with total wheat output unchanged at 56 million tonnes, with an exportable surplus of 22-23 million tonnes.
He saw exports continuing apace through the end of the year, with 1 million tonnes or more leaving Russia's ports in both May and June for a total of 27 million tonnes. "Russia is exporting grain to 80 countries this year, up from 60 two years ago. Among the new countries are Peru and south-east Asian states," Zlochevsky added.
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