Hot and dry weather in the summer slashed the wheat harvest by a third in Russia, historically number three world exporter, prompting it to finish its harvest campaign early, and quickly depleting its stocks and exportable surplus.

Wheat stocks at agricultural enterprises, excluding small farms, stood at 8.15 million tonnes as of Nov. 1, down from 15.3 million tonnes a year ago and down from 13.6 million tonnes as of Nov. 1 2010, when Russia was also hit by drought.

During the last year's season, the same level of wheat stocks - at about 8 million tonnes - was seen in early February.

Overall grain stocks at agricultural enterprises, excluding small farms, fell 32 percent to 19.3 million tonnes as of Nov. 1 2012, data from the Statistics Service, or Rosstat, showed.