London — Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev has raised the forecast for the country's grain harvest in 2018 to 105 million mt, the ministry said Wednesday.
The latest forecast is up 5% from the previous one. Last year's grain harvest was 135 million mt.
Patrushev also said there were no grounds for export restrictions which have been widely discussed in the market. But there is uncertainty over the quality of the grain due to previous wet weather. "Despite unfavorable weather, the total yield will be higher than average indications over the last 10 years," Patrushev was cited as saying in the ministry's statement. "At present, we are calculating that there will be a grain harvest of 105 million mt. This result will allow us to fully provide the country with grain and bread and also to send significant volumes of grain for export."
The large harvest will push up diesel demand, sources in the Russian domestic diesel market said.
