Russia's grain exports grounded by govt curbs

Moscow

RUSSIA'S grain exports have stopped due to curbs brought in to protect domestic supply, putting big deals at risk, an influential farm lobby group said on Wednesday.

Russia's main wheat buyers are Turkey, Iran and, very vulnerable to supply disruption, Egypt.

Moscow imposed informal grain export controls with tougher quality monitoring and limits on railroad loadings earlier this month, as it tackles a financial crisis linked to plunging oil and Western sanctions.

"Since last Thursday, not a single vessel - which had been due to sail under contracts - has left," Arkady Zlochevsky, the head of Russia's Grain Union, th…