Russia plans to set its wheat export quota at eight million tonnes, the country's economy ministry said, marking a one million tonne reduction from a previously planned level.
Supplies from Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, are down this marketing season, with Moscow concerned to secure domestic supply and curb growth in domestic prices as it faces near six-year high inflation.
The quota for 15 February to 30 June 2022 is planned at 11 million tonnes of grain, including 8 million tonnes of wheat, the ministry said in the statement, confirming details contained in a Reuters source-based report last week.
It was initially planned at 14 million tonnes, including 9 million tonnes of wheat. For the same period of 2021, the grain quota was at 17.5 million tonnes. There was no separate limit for the size of wheat exports in 2021.
The size of the wheat quota is smaller than previously expected but is still close to the country's exportable surplus for the period, a Russia-focused grain trader told Reuters.
Wheat Exports
Russian wheat exports are down by 37.5% since the start of the 2021/22 marketing season on 1 July, owing to a smaller crop and the export tax that will rise to $94.0 a tonne from 22 December.
Russia may change a formula it uses to calculate this tax in case global prices rise to $400 per tonne, its agriculture ministry said in November. Russian wheat with 12.5% protein loading from Black Sea ports was at $334 a tonne last week.
The economy ministry repeated on Friday that the mechanism for Russia's formula-based grain export tax would be fine-tuned to further protect the domestic market in case of sharp global price growth.
It did not provide further details.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. For more Supply Chain news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
