MOSCOW, RUSSIA — With nearly 98% of its harvest collected, Russia is forecasting over 65 million tonnes of grain exports during the 2023-24 marketing season, Reuters reported, citing Russian news agency Interfax.

Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said on Nov. 28 that more than 151 million tonnes of grain in bunker weight had been threshed, including almost 99 million tonnes of wheat, according to Interfax.

Patrushev said this meant the 2023 harvest would be Russia's second largest, allowing it to send record volumes of grain to foreign partners. Last year, Russia exported about 60 million tonnes of grain.

Earlier this month, Russia said it started free shipments of grain totaling up to 200,000 tonnes to six countries in Africa. President Vladimir Putin had promised the deliveries during a summit with African leaders in July after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The initiative had allowed for the export of grain following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Agritel, the agriculture analytics arm of Argus, said Russian wheat production could reach 90 million tonnes in 2024, a third straight bumper harvest following a favorable autumn sowing season, Reuters reported.

Combined with stocks, the harvest outlook would keep total Russian wheat supply above 100 million tonnes for a third straight season in 2024-25, Agritel said in a note.

Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, harvested a record crop in 2022 and this year's production is expected to be its second largest. Agritel, which does not include Crimea and other annexed regions of Ukraine in its Russia forecasts, estimates the 2022 crop at 96.5 million tonnes and 2023 output at 89.6 million tonnes.

The initial projection for next year's crop included an expected 65.8 million tonnes of winter wheat and 24.2 million tonnes of spring wheat, which is mainly sown in April.