Iran became Russia's top grain purchaser in June - Rusagrotrans
MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - Iran became the leading importer of Russian grain in June, accounting for 18.7% of exports from June 1 to 23, according to the analytical center Rusagrotrans.
The center's head, Igor Pavensky, told Interfax that Iran is procuring corn and barley through Caspian ports. Between June 1 and 23, 194,000 tonnes of grain were delivered.
It has been reported that Russia hopes Iran also begins purchasing wheat in the near future.
Turkey was in second place with 17.1% (178,000 tonnes). Egypt, which is the leader for the current agricultural year (starting July 1, 2018), was in fourth place in June, with 9.4% (98,000 tonnes).
According to Pavensky, more grain from the last harvest was sold in recent weeks; it had previously been sold to Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, and Sudan through ports in the Azov-Black Sea basin.
In this connection, the center increased its forecast for exports of grain in June from 1 to 1.2 million tonnes, including 0.9 million tonnes of wheat. In May, exports totaled 1.37 million tonnes, including 0.94 million tonnes of wheat (June 2018: 3.67 million and 2.67 million, accordingly).
About 0.43 million tonnes of grain was sold through deep-water ports in June (1.82 million in June 2018).
Pavensky also said that export prices for Russian wheat (protein content of 12.5%) to be delivered in July-August remained unchanged last week at $192 per tonne.
Procurement prices on food-grade wheat remained at 10,500 rubles per tonne (excluding VAT) in deep-water ports and at 10,000 in shallow-water ports.