IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russia's Wheat Crop Seen by Ikar Declining to 40 Million Tons

Bloomberg

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Russia, the world's third-biggest wheat exporter last season, will harvest about 40 million metric tons of the cereal in 2012, according to the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, or 29 percent less than last year.

The forecast is based on average yield data and crop losses caused by drought, Dmitry Rylko, general director of the institute, known as Ikar, said today by phone in Moscow. The country's farmers harvested 56.2 million tons of wheat last year, out of a total national grain crop of 94.2 million tons, according to state statistics data.

Drought has affected 21 out of Russia's 83 regions this year and destroyed 7.6 percent of sown crops, causing about 37 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) of damage, according to the Agriculture Ministry. The situation was classified as an agricultural emergency in 19 areas.

Yields dropped 0.7 ton per hectare (2.47 acres) to 1.9 tons a hectare as of Aug. 24 compared with a year earlier, Interfax said yesterday, citing Agriculture Ministry data. Farmers reaped 51.1 million tons of all grains as of Aug. 24 since harvesting began in mid-June, 7.5 million tons less than a year earlier, it said. The grains crop will be 70 million to 72 million tons in the season that ends on June 30, 2013, Rylko said.

Russia was the third-biggest wheat exporter last season, when it shipped 21.6 million tons of the cereal, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The country may drop to fifth place below the U.S., Australia, Canada and the European Union and ship 8 million tons in 2012-13, the USDA estimates.

The country exported more than 4 million tons of all grains from July 1 through Aug. 22, down from 4.9 million tons a year earlier, the Agriculture Ministry said yesterday. Exports in the first 22 days of August reached 1.94 million tons, including 1.66 million tons of wheat, 263,000 tons of barley and 3,000 tons of corn, it said.

Wheat for December delivery fell 0.6 percent to $8.76 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 9:05 a.m. London time, and rose 34 percent so far this year.

28.08.12

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