Moscow announced that this season's grain deliveries exceeded last year's by 9%, including wheat deliveries, which registered a growth of 2.4%.
According to Elena Tyurina, director of the analytical department at the Russian Grain Union, grain supplies in January this year were higher than the average for the past five years, which for January was 3.2 million tons, including 2.7 million tons for wheat .
Wheat was shipped in January to 24 countries, compared with 42 a year ago, she said. The main buyer was Egypt with 451,000 tons. However, this is 52% less than in January of last season. Pakistan followed with 355,000 tonnes, up from 492,000 last year. Number three is Bangladesh, for which shipments increased to 268,000 tonnes, up from 110,000 the previous year.
But there are also significant declines to some destinations. Only 261,000 tonnes of wheat were exported to Turkey, compared to 719,000 tonnes in January last year. "There are several reasons for this decline: growth in local production and corresponding increase in export potential, as well as dependence on wheat supplies from needy African countries for processing and subsequent flour supplies," the analyst said.
Countries that started buying Russian wheat in January include Indonesia, Venezuela, Malaysia and Morocco. Deliveries to Yemen increased 2.2 times, and those to Oman by 14%.
Meanwhile, deliveries to Algeria have fallen by 52%, to Kenya by 28%, to Libya by 77% and to Uganda by 30%.
"It's a pretty serious decline. On the one hand, it is explained by the situation in the Red Sea, through which grain is supplied to a number of African countries, and on the other hand, due to the continuing influence of the so-called hidden sanctions against Russian grain. Their latest manifestation was the barred Russian diplomats from attending the last meeting of the International Grains Council (IGC) in New Orleans on January 24," Tyurina said.
She also said that in January 31 companies shipped wheat compared to 67 a year ago. The number of ports through which grain is exported has fallen to 16 from 20 in January last year. The Port of Novorossiysk saw shipments drop 26% to 1.37 million tonnes, road handling fell 19% to 354,000 tonnes and shipments through the Port of Azov fell 12% to 425,000 tonnes. Other ports, with the exception of Astrakhan, also saw a decrease in transshipment.
"There were no shipments from the ports operating with river-sea vessels because of the seasonal factor," Tyurina said.
As for the price situation in the market, Tyurina said that Russian wheat prices are currently around $247 per ton. "There was no difference to European wheat in January, which may also affect the supply volume," she said, recalling that in December last year the difference was close to $10-12 per tonne.
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