Moscow : Russia exported nearly twice as much wheat in the first eight months of this year as in the same period last year, fresh data released Thursday by Russia’s customs agency showed.
Wheat exports in January through August rose 170 percent, yielding $5.13 billion in total proceeds. In August alone, Russia sold almost 22 percent more wheat than in the same month in 2017.
Exports of vegetable oils dropped over the same period by 1.4 percent, totaling 1.4 million tonnes, while revenue slid by 0.7 percent to $1.11 billion.
In August, exports were down by 21.5 percent compared to the previous month.
Wheat imports to Russia rose by roughly 24 percent over the first eight months to 217,900 tonnes, estimated at $34.5 million. Barley imports slumped almost 12 times to 12.4 tonnes, while corn imports were down by 13.8 percent to 13,700 tonnes.
Russia exported a total of 44.07 million tonnes of grain last year, while imports from July 2017 to July 2018 stood at 52.42 million tonnes. The Agriculture Ministry expects this season’s grain exports to reach up to 37 million tonnes.
