SovEcon: Russia may reduce wheat exports by 14% in January

MOSCOW, Jan 20 (PRIME) -- Russia’s exports of wheat may contract by 14% on the month to 3.7 million tonnes in January, agricultural research agency SovEcon said in a report late on Thursday.

The contraction of exports may exert pressure on the internal market. As of Thursday, exports from the Russian ports amounted to 1.9 million tonnes of wheat, slowing down because of the long New Year holidays and bad weather.

Also, the wheat export duty grew to 4,766.3 rubles per tonne on January 10 from 4,160.9 rubles per tonne, or to U.S. $68 from $45, SovEcon said.

The agency may revise its forecast if Russia limits its wheat exports. On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin demanded that the government create consistent reserves of wheat, and said that he was concerned with the rapidly growing exports, the agency said.

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