Russia: Grain export rates are declining

Grain export shipments from December 1 to 23 decreased by 23.2% compared to last year, to 2.5 million tons, according to monitoring by the Russian Grain Union (RGU), cited by Interfax. According to Elena Tyurina, director of the RGU analytical department, there was an increase in shipments in the first half of December, but the last week showed a decrease. In particular, wheat exports decreased by 9.3% (to 2.29 million tons), corn - by 79% (93 thousand tons), barley - by 67% (79 thousand tons). "We can already assume that by the end of December, wheat shipments could amount to 3.1 million tons against 3.6 million tons in December last year. Exports of other crops will also be below last year's figures," Tyurina said. According to her, Egypt is the leader in purchasing Russian wheat, having imported 363 thousand tons, which is 3.2 times more than a year earlier. The country, Tyurina notes, imports wheat for processing into flour, part of which is exported to African countries. In ...