Tuesday’s rumors had the Russian government taking steps to slow the frantic pace of wheat exports. Today it became clear that it did act but not in a way that was expected. The government apparently has closed about 30 interior grain elevators in Rostov and Krasnodar for three months. This move is described as punishment for the issuance of faulty and inaccurate quality certification for grain (mostly wheat) that was shipped from the facilities in question. That seems an odd penalty for misrepresenting grain quality. It is widely believed among Russian exporters that shutting these facilities through the end of the year, and thus significantly cutting the capacity for interior wheat origination, has been done to curtail wheat exports...

TAGS – Feed Grains, Soy & Oilseeds, Wheat, Livestock, Biofuels, Australia, China