Russia imposes restrictions on exports of grains to curb domestic prices
YEREVAN, February 15. /ARKA/. Russia said it has imposed an export quota of 17.5 million metric tons that restricts exports of wheat, rye, corn and barley. The restriction will not apply to sales of grains to partner countries from the Eurasian Economic Union.
The measure is aimed at stabilizing prices for flour and bread against the background of sharply rising prices for grain, according to Finmarket.
In addition, the set of restrictive measures is complemented by an export duty. From 15 February, the export of wheat will be subject to a duty of 25 euros per ton. From 1 March it will increase to 50 euros. From March 15, export duties ill apply also to corn (25 euros) and barley (10 euros). Russia does not export rye.
Beyond the quota, the government has set a prohibitive duty of 50% of the customs value of grain, but not less than EUR 100 per ton. The Ministry of Agriculture distributed the quota in early February among 234 companies.
Also, the government will impose a “floating tax” on its wheat and other grain exports starting June 2. The “floating tax” will be imposed on wheat, corn and barley, and will involve a mechanism where sellers will be required to register their export contracts on the Moscow Exchange, according to the Russian government and analysts.
The tax will allow minimizing the negative impact of price fluctuations seen in the global markets on Russia’s market, according to the Russian government.
Under the floating tax system, for wheat, the base price indicator has been fixed at $200/mt, which means the floating tax will only kick in if the calculated market benchmark price is above the $200/mt threshold.
If the price exceeds the threshold, the value difference between the market benchmark price and the base export price will attract a tax of 70%, according to analysts. For corn and barley, the base price indicator is set at $185/mt.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Russian Federation exported 34.1 million tons of grain from July 1, 2020 to February 1, 2021, which is 24.3% more than a year earlier. The export of wheat increased by 23.4% to 28.4 million tons, barley - by 48.8% to 3.9 million tons, other crops - by 45.1% to 0.3 million tons. Corn shipments fell 4.8% to 1.5 million tons - 0--