Russian Wheat Exports Have Plummeted To A 16-year Low

• 21.08.2026, 23:25

Enormous losses.

Russian wheat exports in August could be the lowest for that month in the past 16 years, according to analysts at SovEcon.

Based on their calculations, grain exporters will be able to ship 2.2 million metric tons of wheat abroad—half as much as in August 2023 (4.5 million metric tons) and 56% below the average for that month over the past five years. The only time Russia exported less wheat in August was in 2010, when the government imposed a ban on grain exports due to a drought, writes The Moscow Times.

At present, all major grain ports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov have been paralyzed, notes SovEcon. Last week, following drone attacks, three grain terminals at the port of Novorossiysk—through which a total of about 25 million metric tons of grain was exported—were shut down. In late July, following drone strikes, the grain terminal in Taman was shut down, and several weeks earlier, authorities had suspended shipping through the Kerch Strait. Only the port of Tuapse remains available for exports, but its capacity is modest—just 250,000 metric tons per month.

If grain terminal operations are not restored by the end of the month, export volumes could fall even below 2.2 million metric tons, SovEcon emphasizes.

For farmers, this translates into “colossal losses,” warns Arkady Zlochevsky , president of the Russian Grain Union : “Storage facilities are being replenished every day, yet demand has stalled, and exporters have practically stopped buying grain.”

Due to the oversupply, domestic grain prices are falling—by 18% since June, according to SovEcon. And farmers are forced to sell their harvest below cost. The consequences of this will become apparent next season, Zlochevsky believes: “There’s nowhere to get money; credit is unavailable. If we don’t receive sufficient funding, the winter crop planting will be a disaster.”