Source: Zerno.ru (Russia)
Russia could export 550 thousand tons of flour in the 2024/2025 agricultural year, which is twice as much as the record figure for the 2023/2024 agricultural year. This forecast was made by Dmitry Rylko, Director General of the Institute of Agricultural Market Economy (ICAR), at the summer conference “Where is the scope 2024”, Interfax reports.
“Flour exports will initially remain at a high level. However, it could be significantly lower than the record of 2023/2024,” he said.
According to him, exports this agricultural year are estimated at 550,000 tons, compared to 1.1 million tons last year.
Among the reasons for the decline, Rylko cited the fact that export duties on wheat are below the notional cost of processing in an average mill for the first time in the last three years. “If the export duty on wheat falls below the processing costs, it is gone. And the mills that were counting on continuing their grandiose expansion are in for a bitter disappointment,” said the head of ICAR.
Rylko also pointed out that the main buyers of Russian flour in the last agricultural year were Iraq, China and Afghanistan. Specifically, from August 2023 to May 2024, around 228,000 tons were delivered to Afghanistan, 182,000 tons to China and 144,000 tons to Iraq.