Russian Grain Export In August Was Record High In The Past Thirty Years

In August, Russia exported 279,000 tons of wheat. According to the analytical information centre SovEkon, Russia has not exported such quantities of grain for at least the past 30 years. The August 310,000-ton barley export was also a record high. The country exported more barley in a month only in 1997. In August this year, Saudi Arabia was the main buyer of Russian barley, and Israel--that of wheat. SovEkon experts expect that in September the barley export will be at the August level, and that of wheat perhaps ever higher. Specialists of the centre believe that in the new agricultural year (July 2001 - June 2002) Russia will export about 3.2 million tons of grain, of which barley will account for 1.5-1.7 million tons, and wheat -- approximately 1.5 million tons. It is expected that 42-42.5 million tons of wheat will be harvested in the current year.