Russia's 2013-14 wheat exports to nearly double

Russia's exportable wheat surplus could reach 18-20 million tonnes in 2013/14, compared with exports of around 11 million tonnes in the current 2012/13 season, the head of its Grain Union said on Thursday. Earlier in June, the government forecast that next season's exportable wheat surplus in Russia, historically the world's third-largest exporter of the grain, would reach around 15.5 million tonnes.
"All our traditional buyers are waiting expectantly for our next harvest, primarily Turkey," Arkady Zlochevsky, head of the grain producers' body, said at a briefing. Russia also needs to replenish its own stocks this year after it lost one-third of last year's wheat crop due to drought during the second half of May and early June. The government is preparing to compete for wheat with exporters during the next marketing year to replace the stocks.