12 October 2022

2 minute read

By: Melanie Epp

Europe

Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, is considering abolishing its grain export quota which it usually sets up in the second half of the July-June marketing season, Reuters reported, citing the Interfax news agency and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister.

Russia, which supplies its wheat to Africa and the Middle East, usually sets up grain export quotas for the period from mid-February and until the end of June to secure enough supply for the domestic needs.

"The harvest is big, so, in principle, probably, yes, there are no prerequisites to impose any quantitative restrictions at the moment," Viktoria Abramchenko, who is in charge of the agriculture sector in the government, was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Russia is on track to harvest a record grain crop of 150 million tonnes, including 100 million tonnes of wheat, in 2022, according to President Vladimir Putin's forecast. 

Russia's Union of Grain Exporters said on social media that it would be better to keep the quota system in place but make sure the size of it is not of a restrictive nature.

The quota of 25 million tonnes of grains for exports from mid-February and until June 30 "could become a compromise option", the union said.

"The quota was introduced as a systematic measure to regulate grain exports, so there is probably no point in cancelling it because of the circumstances of a particular season," it added.