IKAR in Mass Media

Russia May Buy 2.5 Million Tons of Grains, Union Says

24 августа 2010 года

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Russia will probably import about 2.5 million metric tons of grains this year, more than six times the purchases a year earlier, the national Grain Union said.

Russia will likely import about 1.5 million tons of corn, mostly from Ukraine, as well as wheat from Kazakhstan and rye and barley from Ukraine, union spokesman Anton Shaparin said by phone today. It may also ship buckwheat from China, Belarus and Poland, he said. Russia imported about 400,000 tons of grain in the marketing year that ended June 30, the Grain Union said.

Drought forced Russia’s government to cut its grain crop forecast to between 60 million and 65 million tons, compared with last year’s 97.1 million-ton harvest, and ban exports until year-end to meet domestic demand. Domestic consumption may drop as small farmers slaughter cattle because of a lack of feed for livestock, according to Dmitry Rylko, director at the Moscow- based Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, or IKAR.

Domestic grain demand may drop to as low as 70 million tons this year from 75.8 million tons last year, he said. Small private farmers make up more than half of Russian beef, pork and milk output and as much as 20 percent of poultry, Rylko said.

IKAR estimates grain imports at 2.2 million tons, he said.

Source: Bloomberg | #grain | Comments: 0 Views: 31

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