Ukraine. 92% of winter crops in good and satisfactory condition

Winter grain crops as of November 25 were in good condition on an area of nearly 4.34 million hectares, or 53.4% of the total acreage. Winter crops were in satisfactory condition on an area of 3.13 million hectares, or 38.6% of the total acreage

As of November 25, winter crops sprouted on 8.116 million hectares out of the 8.198 million hectares sown with the crops.

Russian grain producers suggest exporting food grain, import feed grain

Russia should export food grain from the country's south and import feed grain instead, National Grain Producers Union President Pavel Skurikhin said on Tuesday.

Russia's southern regions hold about 10 million tons of surplus food grain, while drought-hit central regions suffered from feed grain shortages,Skurikhin said.

"To my mind, it would be reasonable to use (southern) grain ... maybe to sell it abroad, and to import the same amount of feed grain," Skurikhin told a news conference.

Russia banned grain exports from August 15, 2010 to June 30, 2011 in response to the country's worst drought in decades.

Russia's grain prices may grow 30 pct to 9,000 rbls per T in 2011 - grain union

Russian grain prices may increase 33% in the first quarter of 2011 to 9,000 rubles ($290) per ton from the current 6,000-7,000 rubles, the President of Russia's Union of Grain Producers Pavel Skurikhin said on Tuesday.

"Grain prices may certainly grow to the level of about 9,000 rubles per ton registered in the spring of 2008," Skurikhin said when asked about the grain price growth expected in the first quarter of 2011, when several regions would run out of their grain stocks.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov has previously said the current average price for grain amounts to 6,000-6,500 per ton, while Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach has said average grain prices have hit 7,000 rubles per ton or more.

Russia has been confronted with the problem of imbalances in grain supplies among the regions this season. Southern regions have a surplus of food grain (about 10 million tons) while central and western regions that were hit by the drought in summer are experiencing a shortage of fodder grain required to maintain the livestock sector. Some regions are also experiencing a shortage of food rye for flour production.

"Except for the unequal grain distribution across the country and imbalances between different types of grain crops, I do not see any reasons for price hikes" he added.