Russian Agriculture Ministry planning to adjust base prices for calculating grain export duties

SIRIUS. May 29 (Interfax) - The Agriculture Ministry does not intend to abolish grain export duties and plans to adjust the base prices used for their calculation before the new season (starting July 1, 2025), the head of the Commodity Infrastructure Department at the ministry's Agricultural Market Regulation Directorate Sergei Smirnov said.

"We do not plan to abandon them [export duties] in the near future. However, each year before the start of the season, we propose adjustments to the duty calculation mechanism by modifying the base price used to determine the final duty rate," Smirnov said at the Russian Grain Forum on Thursday.

Specific details about the adjustment amount will be communicated to the market in the coming days, he said. "I believe changes will most likely be implemented before the season begins," he said.

Floating export duties remain one of the key measures to maintain stable domestic market prices, he said.