Drought-hit Russian grain yields down 27 percent

 Drought-hit Russian grain quality has fallen sharply, with yields from the key global wheat supplier's current harvest down 27 percent from last year to 1.89 tonnes per hectare as of September 3, the country's Agriculture Ministry said. Russia had completed 65 percent of its harvest campaign as of Monday, reaping 55 million tonnes of grains, including 33 million tonnes of wheat and 12 million tonnes of barley, data on the ministry's website www.mcx.ru showed on Tuesday.

Wheat yields fell to 1.95 tonnes per hectare so far from last year's 2.87 tonnes. Wheat prices in western Europe edged up on Tuesday buoyed by a rise on US markets while there continued to be talk of potential export restrictions in the Black Sea region. Russia's officials were promising no grain export limits, yet industry experts believe they could occur as soon as October.

Major importers will quickly buy up Russian wheat in coming weeks, wary of the drought-hit country's plans even after the key global supplier said it would not restrict grain exports, traders said on Tuesday. Russia barred grain exports for almost a year in August 2010 after a severe drought. By September 8, 2010, Russia had harvested some 47 million tonnes of grains. The Agriculture Ministry's official 2012 grain harvest forecast now stands at 70-75 million tonnes, down from last year's 94 million tonnes. The country also continued the sowing of winter grains, the data showed, with 14.5 percent of the area complete. Russia plans to sow 16.8 million hectares with winter grains for its 2013 crop, up from last year's 16.1 million hectares. 

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