Grain export ban sows doubts about Russia's reliability to supply

摘要

The past few months have been interesting for observers of grain and cereals markets worldwide. Drought and wildfires midyear ruined millions of hectares of crops in Russia, the world's fourth largest grain exporter, resulting in Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin announcing a ban on Russian grain exports from mid August until July 2011. Analysts said Russia's grain output could fall from 100 mt in 2009 to 65 mt this year as a result of the poor harvest.