The nation’s grain and legume crop for 2017 is estimated at 130.7 million tonnes, according to ProZerno’s August forecast. This would beat the previous record of 127.4 million tonnes set in 1978, Vladimir Petrichenko, ProZerno general director, told Agroinvestor.
Wheat is predicted to reach a record 80.1 million tonnes, followed by barley at 19 million tonnes and corn at 16.3 million tonnes, also a record.
A record could also be set for leguminous crops (peas, chickpeas, vetch, lupins, etc.), which together could reach 3.85 million tonnes. Buckwheat is projected at 1.7 million tonnes.
Petrichenko told Agroinvestor that a record harvest could cause storage difficulties. There already have been reports of grain elevators not taking grain and storage prices increasing significantly. In the Voronezh region grain cars are lined up at elevators, sitting idle for two or three days.
Exports are estimated at 47 million to 48 million tonnes with 35 million tonnes of wheat, 6.4 million tonnes of corn, 4.5 million tonnes of barley, and 1.2 million to 1.4 million tonnes of leguminous crops, Petrichenko said.
Prices are falling, he said, and likely will fall through the bottom in the second half of August. According to the National Union of Grain Producers, during the past week in all grain-producing regions there was a significant reduction in price indicators for grain crops, Agroinvestor reported.
