Russia’s grain reserves totalled 21.4 million tonnes on April 1, down by 900,000 tonnes, or 4.3%, from the same date of 2006, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said.
Agriculture organizations had 12 million tonnes in grain reserves on April 1,
down by 600,000 tonnes, while processing enterprises and elevators had 9.4
million tonnes, down 300,000 tonnes.
Russia produced 78.4 million tonnes
of grain in 2006 compared to 78.2 million tonnes in 2005. The Agriculture
Ministry’s tentative forecast for production in 2007 is 76 million-79 million
tonnes. Grain market analysts, however, feel this is a conservative estimate.