Russia's seaborne grain exports fell by 25.4% in the recently ended 2024-2025 season to around 46 million metric tons, shipping data from industry sources released on Monday showed.
Russia, the world's leading wheat exporter, delivered grain to global markets at record volumes early in the 2024/25 marketing season, which ran from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. However, the implementation of export quotas in February and lower crop output caused a sharp decline in the season's final months.
Shipments in June fell by 72% to 1.45 million tons, according to the data.
Exports via Black Sea terminals, which normally account for around 90% of all seaborne grain shipments, decreased by 25.1% year-on-year to 41.6 million tons for the season.
Deliveries through the Caspian Sea, a route primarily serving Iran, dropped 57.3% to 1.6 million tons. Exports at Caspian ports were completely halted in April and did not resume in May. They reached just 21.5 tons in June.
Grain exports via Baltic Sea terminals rose 16.2% in the 2024-2025 season, confirming their growing role in targeting new markets for Russian grain, including West Africa and Latin America.
Seaborne exports accounted for about 90% of Russia's total grain exports last season. Overall grain exports for the 2024/25 season will be around 53 million tons, including 44 million tons of wheat, and grain exports for the next season will reach 53 million to 55 million tons, Russia's agriculture ministry said last month.
Russian wheat exports are expected to get a boost following a reduction in an export tax to zero, reflecting the rouble's strength as well as low global prices, analysts and traders say.
(Reuters)