Grain exports handled by Russia’s southern Black Sea port of Novorossiysk will decline 18 percent this month from a year earlier to more than 600,000 metric tons, SovEcon said.
The port handled 739,000 tons of grain last July, the Moscow-based researcher said today on its website. Shipments were 493,000 tons in the same period in 2009.
The Egyptian government dropped Russia from its list of approved source countries after the government in Moscow barred all cereal exports last August as drought seared fields. The ban expired July 1. Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, will wait until Russia starts harvesting its crop in August before deciding whether to resume shipments, Nomani Nomani, vice chairman of Egypt’s state wheat buyer, said last month.
The largest shippers this month will be International Grain Co., a Russian unit of Glencore International AG, and state trader United Grain Co., which are expected to export 172,000 tons and 150,000 tons respectively, SovEcon said, citing data from shipping agent TransAgent.
The companies will ship grain from the last harvest, SovEcon said. Eight vessels are scheduled to load grain in the port this month, heading mostly for Sudan and to fulfill commercial contracts in Egypt, the port said yesterday.