Russia's seaborne grain exports increased by six per cent year-on-year in December, reaching 4.4 million tonnes, shipping data from industry sources showed on Thursday.
Russia, the world's top wheat exporter, has been exporting grain at a near-record pace in the past few months, despite low global prices and domestic measures aimed at restricting exports to keep prices low at home.
The data shows that growth slowed down in December compared with the previous month, when exports surged by 39.5 per cent.
Total seaborne exports have amounted to almost 32 million tonnes this season, up by 6.9 per cent year-on-year, the data showed, with export potential estimated at around 60 million tonnes this season.
Exports from Black Sea terminals, targeting Russia's traditional customers in the Middle East, rose six per cent to 3.9 million tonnes, while exports through the Caspian Sea, which mostly go to Iran, fell 25.9 per cent, the data showed.
Grain exports from Baltic Sea terminals increased by 67 per cent in December, confirming their growing role in targeting new markets for Russian grain, including West Africa and Latin America, based on the data.
Seaborne exports accounted for about 90 per cent of Russia's total grain exports last season. Last year Russia exported about 62 million tonnes of grain through its sea terminals, according to analysts' estimates.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, editing by Gleb Bryanski and Jane Merriman)