June 9 (Reuters) - Russia has pledged to double grain exports in the next 10 to 15 years and play a leading role in helping the world tackle a looming food shortage.
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Moscow has proposed a Black Sea trading bloc, comprising Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, to boost rail and port infrastructure and manage supply more efficiently.
This would be the world's largest grain exporter. In wheat alone, the combined exports of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan are forecast to reach 33.5 million tonnes in 2008/09, more than the 27.5 million tonnes from top exporter the United States.
Following is U.S. Department of Agriculture data on wheat production and exports from the world's major wheat countries.
WORLD WHEAT PRODUCTION & EXPORTS
(million tonnes)
2007/08
PRODUCTION (ranking) EXPORTS United States 55.82 (4) 34.40 (1) Canada 20.05 (7) 16.38 (2) Russia 49.40 (5) 12.55 (3) European Union-27 120.20 (1) 12.27 (4) Argentina 16.80 (8) 11.20 (5) Kazakhstan 16.60 (9) 8.18 (6) Australia 13.84 (11) 7.49 (7) ---------------------------------------------------------- China 109.30 (2) 2.84* Pakistan 23.30 (6) 2.20 Ukraine 13.90 (10) 1.24 India 75.81 (3) 0.05 * China, India and Pakistan are among the top 10 wheat producers, but are not major exporters.
Ukraine's exports were considerably less than usual in 2007/08 due to government-imposed restrictions.
2008/09 (estimated)
PRODUCTION (ranking) EXPORTS United States 68.03 (4) 27.49 (1) European Union-27 151.57 (1) 22.00 (2) Russia 63.70 (5) 17.00 (3) Canada 28.61 (6) 16.80 (4) Australia 21.50 (8=) 14.00 (5) Ukraine 25.90 (7) 12.00 (6) Kazakhstan 12.50 (10) 4.50 (7=) Argentina** 8.40 (11) 4.50 (7=) ---------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan 21.50 (8=) 2.40 China 113.00 (2) 0.75 India 78.60 (3) 0.20 ** Argentina's crop has been slashed by a prolonged drought. Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, May 2009.
(Editing by Keiron Henderson)