Drought-hit Russian grain quality has fallen sharply, with yields from the key global wheat supplier's current harvest down 27 percent from last year to 1.92 tonnes per hectare as of Tuesday, the country's Agriculture Ministry said.
Russia had completed 62 percent of the harvest by August 28, reaping 53.4 million tonnes of grains, down from 60.3 million tonnes by the same date in 2011, data published on the ministry's website www.mcx.ru showed. By August 26, 2010, Russia had harvested some 42 million tonnes of grains. It did not provide specific wheat harvest data.
The impact of Russia's weather-ravaged harvest is being felt on international markets with Benchmark Chicago wheat rising on concerns the country may curb wheat exports. Russia barred grain exports for almost a year in August 2010 after a severe drought. Some market observers have speculated this year Russia's wheat harvest may fall below the crop of 2010, when it brought in 41.5 million tonnes of wheat out of a total grains harvest of 61 million tonnes. The Volga region harvested 13.2 million tonnes of grains by August 28 with yields down to 1.42 tonnes per hectare from 72 percent of its area.
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