MOSCOW (Reuters) — Russia, one of the world’s top wheat exporters, is preparing to buy grain on the domestic market in line with its restocking campaign, an agricultural ministry representative told Reuters on Friday, signaling increased competition with exporters.
Russia is looking to rebuild depleted stocks after a drought last year, which slashed its wheat crop by a third.
A statement on the ministry’s website on Friday said interventions would start on Sept. 20, but the representative told Reuters that only preparations for making purchases would start on this date, not actual buying.
“Purchases will start soon,” the official said, not disclosing which grains would be bought and in which regions. The ministry has said it planned to buy up to six million tonnes of grains during the 2013-14 marketing year which started on July 1.
The Government restocking campaign, which the ministry call interventions, is likely to boost demand for grains, whose prices are already supported by a late harvest, concerns over a lack of high quality wheat and a delayed winter grains sowing campaign.
