Wheat export duty to depend on harvest, grain price - Tkachev
MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) - The topic of the export duty on wheat is being discussed in the government, with grain unions, but now it is irrelevant, and in the future a decision on the formula will depend on the harvest, the grain price and the general macroeconomic situation in the country, Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said during an interview on the Rossiya 24 television channel.
"I don't want to make confirmation announcements, we are watching the market. Everything will depend on the harvest, the grain prices, exports, on many other components and, naturally, on the macroeconomic situation in our country," Tkachev said.
He said that there are advantages to the duty, because it restricts the growth of grain prices. "If tomorrow grain were to cost 15 or 20 rubles, this would be reflected in a loaf of bread, which is would become two times more expensive, in animal feed, which in turn would be reflected in the price of meat. This is impermissible," he said.
Currently, he said, the price situation is such that the duty is "already outdated". "In price formation for grain this formula [of calculating the duty] does not have a key, radical value," the minister said.
In the middle of June the Agriculture Ministry is planning to hold a meeting on the issue of an export duty for grain.
The export duty for wheat with a ruble component is valid from July 1, 2015. Initially its size was 50% minus 5,500 rubles, but no less than 50 rubles per tonne. Starting on October 1, 2015 the deductible part of the duty was increased to 6,500 rubles, and the minimum size was decreased from 50 to 10 rubles per tonne.
Tkachev also confirmed the forecast that was made earlier for the grain harvest this year of 106 million tonnes. He said that bad weather in the south is complicating the work of farmers, but he said that this has happened more than once. "We will hope that they will manage this time," he said.