Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow / Reuters — Russia stiffened its bid to curb grain exports on Monday with plans for a duty on shipments, to defend domestic bread supply against a crumbling rouble. Russia, one of the world’s top wheat exporters to North Africa and the Middle East, has been exporting record volumes of grain this year as […] Read more
Russia’s new grain export duty sows confusion
Russia adds rail loading to informal curbs on grain exports
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia has significantly cut railway loading of grain for export, industry sources said, adding to informal curbs to overseas shipments. Russia, one of the world’s main wheat exporters, is restricting grain exports to try to cool domestic prices as the country tackles a currency crisis linked to plunging oil prices and […] Read more
Russia curbs grain exports to cool domestic prices
Reading Time: 3 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia, one of the world’s main wheat exporters, is taking steps to restrict grain exports in an attempt to cool domestic prices, as it tackles a financial crisis linked to plunging oil prices and Western sanctions. In a meeting with grain exporters on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said the […] Read more
Russia restricts grain export certificates for some countries, trade sources say
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters — Russia’s Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) has restricted grain export certificates for some countries, three trade sources told Reuters. Russia has been exporting record volumes of wheat this year as a tumble in the rouble makes its grains cheap on world markets. The central bank hiked rates sharply on Monday […] Read more
Russia should limit grain exports via offshore firms, ag minister says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters –– Russia should limit grain exports through companies registered offshore, the country’s agriculture minister told TASS news agency, suggesting a possible way the government could curb exports as it has sworn off an embargo. Russia is exporting grains at a record pace this year as a slump in the rouble makes them […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat drops as fears fade about Russian export limits
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell two per cent on Tuesday as Russia denied it was discussing grain export restrictions, while soybean futures rose for the fifth consecutive session on strong export demand. Corn futures advanced as traders adjusted positions ahead of a monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture report on Wednesday. The wheat […] Read more
Russia says oil-for-goods deal with Iran could be sealed soon
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia hopes a deal to supply grain and equipment to Iran in return for oil can be reached soon, Russia’s Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Sunday. The deal “will affect not only grain, there are broad lists of goods… We expect that (a deal) could be reached in the near future,” […] Read more
Russia may consider floating tariff on grain exports as last resort
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters — Russia, a key wheat exporter to North Africa and the Middle East, may consider imposing a floating tariff on grain exports as a measure of last resort to defend the domestic market in 2015, its deputy agriculture minister said Thursday. Russia shocked grain markets in 2010 when it banned grain exports […] Read more
Russia’s winter grains still at risk despite warm weather – analyst
Reading Time: 2 minutes * Warm November to help Russia’s winter grains – SovEcon * Says some farmers hold crops due to the falling rouble * SovEcon sees Nov. grain exports at 3.0-3.2 mln T Paris/Moscow / Reuters – Warm weather last week did not eliminate risks for Russia’s fragile winter grain plantings, said a Moscow-based agriculture consultancy SovEcon, warning […] Read more
Return of the czars
Will the Putin effect hurt global ag equipment manufacturing?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Samuel Allen was blunt. “Today’s world is filled with uncertainty — fiscal, economic, and political uncertainty — that breeds extreme caution, disrupts thoughtful planning, and is generally bad for business,” the John Deere chairman and CEO wrote in the company’s 2013 annual report. Those words from December of last year now seem profoundly prophetic, given […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
