Miller Magazine Issue: 141 September 2021

32 MILLER / september 2021 NEWS Russian agriculture consultancy Sovecon said it has cut its forecast for Russia's 2021 wheat crop to 75.4 million tonnes from 76.2 million tonnes because of low spring wheat yields. Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, supplying it mainly to Africa and the Middle East. It has been hit by dry weather in several regions this year. The Urals and the Volga regions of the country suf- fered badly due to a very dry and hot summer, Sove- con said in a note, adding that the Urals may harvest the lowest crop since 2012 and the Volga since 2014. Both regions received 50-80 percent of normal precipitation in the last three months while temperatures were 3-5 Celsius above average, it added. Sovecon said that it expects Russia's 2021/22 wheat exports to decline to the lowest level in five seasons due to the smaller crop, slow pace of exports and tough com- petition with other suppliers such as Ukraine. "With three quarters of Russia's wheat area harvested, the Siberian crop is the only big unknown variable at this stage," Andrey Sizov at Sovecon said in the note. Siberia is expected to harvest a good crop as favourable sum- mer weather offset earlier dry weather there, he added. Sovecon cuts forecast for Russia’s 2021 wheat crop Global food commodity prices rebounded rapidly in August after two consecutive months of decline, led by strong gains in the international price quotations for sug- ar, wheat and vegetable oils, the Food and Agriculture Or- ganization of the United Nations (FAO) reported. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 127.4 points in August, up 3.1 percent from July and 32.9 percent from the same month in 2020. The index tracks monthly changes in the inter- national prices of commonly-traded food commodities. The FAO Sugar Price Index rose 9.6 percent from July, pushed up by concerns over frost damage to crops in Bra- zil, the world's largest sugar exporter. The increase was mitigated by good production prospects in India and the European Union as well as by a decline in crude oil pric- es and a weakening of the Brazilian real. The FAO Vege- table Oil Price Index increased by 6.7 percent in August, with international palm oil prices reverting to historic highs due to protracted concerns over below-potential pro- duction and resulting inventory drawdowns in Malaysia. Quotations for rapeseed oil and sunflower oil also rose. The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 3.4 percent higher in August than July. World wheat prices jumped by 8.8 per- cent due to reduced harvest expectations in several major exporting countries. Maize prices, by contrast, declined 0.9 percent as improved production prospects in Argentina, the European Union and Ukraine moderated the lowered pro- duction forecasts in Brazil and the United States of America. International rice prices remained on a downward trajectory. Global food commodity prices rebound in August