Russia's grain exports are expected to be relatively high at the start of the new 2017/18 marketing season on July 1, SovEcon agriculture consultancy said on Friday, estimating the figure for next month at 2.5 million to 2.7 million tonnes. Active harvesting will be delayed this year due to cold spring weather, but the country's July exports are seen elevated thanks to leftover stocks from the record crop of 2016.
SovEcon, in a note, said its estimate of July grain exports included 2.0 million tonnes of wheat. The estimate also includes flour, pulses and supplies to neighbours such as Belarus and Armenia, with which Russia shares a customs-free zone. Russia's June exports are expected to reach 2.0-2.2 million tonnes of grain, including 1.3-1.4 million tonnes of wheat, 200,000 tonnes of barley and 300,000-400,000 tonnes of maize, it said.
This will bring total 2016/17 grain exports to a record 36.6 million tonnes, including 27.4 million tonnes of wheat, 4.8 million tonnes of maize and 3.1 million tonnes of barley. Russia's grain stocks at farms and procurement and processing companies, excluding small farms, were up 31 percent from a year earlier at 18.5 million tonnes as of June 1, data from state statistics service Rosstat showed. It was the highest level for that time of year since 2011. Stocks in Russia's south, the country's main grain producing and exporting region, were up 50 percent year-on-year.