Situation in bread market stable, no sharp price fluctuations - Agriculture Ministry
MOSCOW. August 8 (Interfax) - The Russian bread market is stable, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
"In general, the current situation in the bread market is assessed as stable, without sharp price fluctuations," the ministry said. On Thursday, there were media reports that bread prices had risen sharply.
"The Agriculture Ministry constantly monitors the price situation in key food markets. Currently, producer prices for certain items are below inflation compared with last year; for others, they are somewhat higher. The increase in retail prices for bread since the beginning of the year has also been close to the level of inflation," the ministry said.
Citing data from the regions, it said that as of August 1, producer prices (including VAT) were 40.19 rubles/kilogram for bread made from rye-wheat flour (+4% YoY, +4.5% YTD) and 46.43 rubles/kilogram for bread made from wheat flour (+8.5%, +6.1%).
According to Rosstat, average prices for consumers as of July 29 were 50.22 rubles/kg for wheat bread (+4.2% YTD) and 50.81 rubles/kg for rye-wheat bread (+5.2%).
The ministry also said that the grain harvest this year is expected to be 118 million tonnes, including 75 million tonnes of wheat. "Getting such a harvest will allow us to fully cover internal demand (milling, baking, and feed companies) and form enough carryover stocks to keep the price situation stable," it said.