Russia's grain farms started the 2012/13 marketing season with stocks at historically low levels due to strong demand, reflecting fears of a possible restriction on Russia's grain exports. "High level of sales by farmers indicates strong demand from buyers, especially exporters, and, obviously, indicates they are stockpiling," Russia's SovEcon consultancy said on Thursday.
A global crunch in grain supply intensified on Wednesday with high prices failing to dampen consumers' appetite while supplies from key exporter Russia appeared to be in danger of running out before the end of the year. The tightness in Russian supplies, after drought caused a sharp drop in yields this season, has led to talk that the government may impose export restrictions with quotas, tariffs or even an outright ban.
Russian grain stocks at farms stood at 15.73 million tonnes as of August 1, their lowest level since 2006, SovEcon said, citing data from the Federal Statistics Service, or Rosstat. Wheat stocks fell to their lowest level since 2003 to stand at 10.61 million tonnes. Grain stocks were down 18 percent year on year, while wheat stocks were down 30 percent after the sales volume increased by 60 percent. Grain stocks in Krasnodar and Stavropol, located in Russia's main export region, halved.
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