Andrey Sizov
08.02.2024
Russian wheat stocks (on-farm and off-farm; excluding small companies) as of January 1 reached 36.5 million metric tons (MMT), marking a 1% increase over last year’s level, SovEcon said in a report. The stocks increased to record-high levels amid relatively sluggish exports in the recent months.
Off-farm wheat stocks were reported at 14.7 MMT, up 5% from last year’s figure. On-farm wheat stocks totaled 21.8 MMT, slightly down by 1% from the previous year.
In the Southern region of Russia, total wheat stocks remained steady at 12.5 MMT, matching last year’s figures; in the Central region, they reached 9.3 MMT, showing a 2% increase; and in the Volga region, stocks were at 7.6 MMT, up by 5%.
Russia accumulated record-high stocks amid sluggish exports in recent months. As per SovEcon estimate, from November to January, Russia exported 10.4 MMT of wheat compared to 12.3 MMT for the same period a year prior. Exports slowed amid government efforts to regulate wheat prices.
A contributing factor was the good wheat crop, which, according to Rosstat, amounted to 92.7 MMT compared to an average of 88.7 MMT over the past three years.
The influence of Russia’s record wheat stocks on the global market is limited, as export activities are curbed by governmental intervention.
