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Strategies & Market Trends : Strictly: Drilling II -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank Pembleton who wrote (18352)	9/5/2002 8:25:26 AM
From: Frank Pembleton	Respond to of 36161

Canada to Import Russian Grain Reuters Russia may export around 10 million tons of grain this year, double the amount it shipped in 2001, First Deputy Agriculture Minister Anatoly Mikhalyov was quoted as saying Wednesday. Prime-Tass and Interfax quoted Mikhalyov as telling a conference in Moscow that Russia could export grain to Canada for the first time to help compensate for an expected low crop in that country. Analysts were divided on how feasible the export forecast was. "In fact, Russian grain exports this year could be up to 11 million tons," said Andrei Sizov of leading agricultural analysts SovEcon. But that could only happen if the government cut fees charged by railways to foreign ports to domestic levels, or set a preferential rail tariff for grain deliveries from eastern regions to the Baltic and Black Sea ports, or did both. Sizov said the government's tariff-setting body planned to look at revising railroad fees on Thursday. But Andrei Chernyshov, head of research at major agricultural firm Rusagrocapital, said grain exports would reach only 8 million tons even if tariffs were lowered. "Eight million tons is a more feasible figure if the port of Muuga [in Estonia] and Ukrainian ports are open," he said. Interfax quoted Mikhalyov as saying Canada had decided to purchase Russian grain worth 12.6 million Canadian dollars ($8.12 million). An Agriculture Ministry spokesman could not confirm the reports, but Sizov said that for this sum Canada could purchase around 50,000 tons of high-quality food wheat in Russia. "Canada might need this grain to cover previously signed export contracts, which they will currently have some difficulty honoring," Sizov said. Mikhalyov said Russia could have another big grain crop this year at more than 85 million tons. Russia's previous official forecast for grain output this year was 75 million to 77 million tons, down from 85 million in 2001. But some analysts said this season's total might be equal to or higher than last season's. themoscowtimes.com