MOSCOW, October 2 – Novosti. Arkady Zlochevsky, president of the Russian Grain Union , predicted in an interview with Sputnik radio how prices for cereals popular in Russia could change .
Buckwheat in the Russian market usually costs more than rice, but in 2022 the ratio between the prices for these cereals may become different, he said.
“This year the rice harvest will be slightly less than usual, about 900,000 tons instead of the usual one million and 100,000 tons,” Zlochevsky said.
According to him, about 300,000 tons of rice grown in Russia is annually exported. Approximately 800,000 tons of domestic and 200,000 tons of imported rice enter the domestic market, the president of the Russian Grain Union added.
“Our total consumption of rice is about a million tons per year, of which 800,000 are our own and about 200,000 are imported. We produce short-grain rice, about 300,000 tons per year are usually exported to neighboring countries. And we import long-grain,” Zlochevsky explained. .
An explosive rise in rice prices is not to be feared, he is sure. However, a rise in price within ten percent, according to the expert, is quite possible.
“It will be slightly more expensive than last season, but not much. So far, we see that rice prices fluctuate within ten percent,” Zlochevsky said.
Rice will not rise too much in price, in particular, a good harvest and cheap buckwheat this year, he believes. The cost of buckwheat for two seasons has decreased by at least 30 percent, said the president of the Russian Grain Union.
“Buckwheat is falling in price: this year there is a fairly large crop, so I think it will cost less than rice, but it won’t let it go up much either. Over the past two seasons, buckwheat has already fallen quite seriously in price — at least 30 percent. The traditional ratio, when buckwheat is more expensive than rice, may change,” Arkady Zlochevsky concluded.
