Sovecon raises forecast for 2022 Russian wheat crop

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia-focused consultancy Sovecon raised its forecast for Russia's 2022 wheat crop to 94.7 million tonnes from 90.9 million tonnes on Tuesday, citing record yields in many regions and brighter prospects for spring wheat after recent rain.

Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, supplying it mainly to the Middle East and Africa.

"Russia's big crop is getting bigger thanks to great weather in 2022," Sovecon head Andrey Sizov said in a note.

The higher production estimate is likely to have limited impact on the global market because Russian exports "remain painfully slow" in the 2022/23 July-June marketing season so far, Sovecon said.

Exports of Russian wheat harvested this summer for the 2022/23 marketing season are unlikely to fulfil the potential offered by an expected record crop because banks, shippers and insurers remain wary despite U.S. assurances over sanctions, traders told Reuters last week.

Sovecon's forecast for all grain crops combined was raised to 142.6 million tonnes, including 20.6 million tonnes of barley and 15.1 million tonnes of maize (corn), it said, adding that the estimate is based on the area controlled by Russia at the start of 2022.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Jason Neely and David Goodman)