MOSCOW: Russia is expected to increase grain exports to 3.5 million tonnes in August from 2.2 million tonnes in July, SovEcon agriculture consultancy said on Tuesday. Russia, a major global wheat exporter, exported record high volumes in the 2015/16 crop season which ended on June 30, and is likely to export even more in 2016/17 when it expects the largest crop in its post-Soviet history. Wheat exports are expected at 3.1 million tonnes in August, up from 1.5 million tonnes in July, SovEcon, a leading agriculture consultancy in Moscow, said. Its data for the previous month is based on the official customs data which has lagged real wheat exports due to technical issues with the customs processing. Real July exports were at 2.6 million tonnes of grain, including 2.0 million tonnes of wheat, according to SovEcon’s estimate. “The pace of wheat exports at the start of the season looks insufficient to significantly reduce the record crop’s pressure on the domestic market,” SovEcon said. The government is considering reducing the floating wheat export tax, which is at a minimum level of 10 roubles ($0.15) per tonne but could rise if the rouble currency declines or global wheat prices rise. The move, if approved, will help to ease risks for forward contracts and thus support exports, SovEcon said. Table 1. Russia – Monthly exports of all grains*, wheat and barley in 2015/16 (July-June) and 2016/17 (July-August) (1,000 tonnes, excluding exports to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
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