IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russia sets wheat, meslin export quota at 10.6 mln T for 2024/25 season

Reuters

Corrects headline and 1st paragraph, adds new 4th paragraph to specify that this season's quota includes wheat and meslin, while last season's also included barley, rye and corn

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, said on Friday its wheat and meslin export quota in the second half of the exporting season will stand at 10.6 million metric tons, implying exports would be sharply reduced next year.

The official figure is broadly in line with the Russian quota of 11 million tons made public late last month by the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a trade association of Russia and four ex-Soviet countries.

The decision is part of measures to improve domestic supply and fight inflation, currently at 9.5%. Russia estimates this year's wheat harvest at 83 million tons, down from 92.8 million in 2023.

Last season's grain export quota was set at 29 million tons but also included barley, rye and corn. This year's export quotas for barley, rye and corn have been set to zero. In the last season wheat accounted for 75% of all grain exports.

"The decision was made taking into account the projected balance of production and consumption of grain crops in the domestic market," the government said in a statement.

With the new quota in place, IKAR consultancy sees Russian wheat exports at 43.5 million tons in the current season, down from 55.5 million tons in 2023/24 season.

Analysts said a minor adjustment of the final figure compared with the one the EEU announced in November was due to an accelerated pace of exports.

Russia has already exported 29 million tons of wheat in this season, according to analysts from Rusagrotrans, Russia's flagship rail carrier of grain.

Analysts had anticipated the quota cut given the high rate of exports in recent months and a worse-than-expected harvest due to bad weather in most Russian wheat-producing regions.

Russia allows grain exports quota-free from July to February, the first half of the export season, and then implements quotas among over 200 domestic traders authorised to sell grain internationally from Feb. 15 to June 30.

20.12.24

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