Russia exports 800k mt wheat in week to January 17: ministry

Russian wheat exports continued to surge ahead of previous years as sales reached 799,000 mt in the week to January 17, data from the ministry of agriculture showed Monday.

The high pace of sales has taken total exports to 22.64 million mt – an increase of 35.3% on the same stage last year.

Having lagged previous year’s sales, corn exports have finally started to exceed those seen in 2016-17, up 1.4% on this stage last year to 2.54 million mt.

Barley exports have maintained their pace, almost double last year’s figure at 3.64 million mt.

Total grain sales from July 1 now stand at 29.02 million mt, a 36.4% increase year-on-year.

Russia is the world’s biggest wheat exporter and its fast pace of sales this marketing year has left other, less competitive, producers struggling to keep up.

It is currently exporting its biggest crop on record, with ministry officials recently announcing they expect wheat sales to top 47 million mt by the end of the marketing year on June 30.