World Grain - January 2005 - 19

countryfocus

Flour
Flour Fine
Fine
Tuning
Tuning
1

*projected; Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast Russian GDP in the medium term at about 4%. That is expected to result in rising incomes and a continuing growth in
food consumption, which will stimulate agriculture growth.
WHEAT AND FLOUR MILLING
Quality is an issue every wheat season. There is never
enough good quality milling wheat for the baking industry
and in some years imports are required to meet needs.
This season, wheat production is estimated to be 43.8 million tonnes of which 71%, or about 31 million tonnes, is of
food quality, the State Grain Inspection Service said in September. This is eight million tonnes more than last year.
However, the Russian Union of Flour and Groat Mills has
recently said the availability of soft wheat is fast decreasing
and it could be difﬁcult ﬁnding the 18 million tonnes needed
for bread production.
This could prompt bakeries to use poorer wheat for bread,
resulting in poorer quality bread, as happened in 2003-2004.
To counter this situation, the government announced this
month a new national standard for wheat ﬂour that assesses
ﬂour quality more accurately than the old standard.
Russian wheat is classiﬁed by gluten content, with Class
3 representing the standard bread wheat. Classes 1 and 2 are
the top quality wheat used for pasta and noodles, but they are
generally in such short supply that bakeries have to import to
meet their needs.
Class 4 is generally considered feed wheat but can be used
to make bread if it is blended with better wheat. This year,
the State Grain Inspection Service said there were signiﬁcant
quantities of Class 4 wheat that met food quality standards.
Last season's short supply of bread wheat caused prices to
jump although they dropped late last year. Class 3 wheat fell
from a high of 6,390 rubles (U.S.$230) per tonne last March
to 4,180 rubles (U.S.$150) in July. Class 4 wheat fell from
6,030 rubles (U.S.$217) to 3,770 rubles (U.S.$135).
The government has not yet bought any grain under its
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World Grain - January 2005

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