Page 78 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine December 2023

78 I New Europe in Numbers bne December 2023
Russian grain production, export m tonnes
Russian grain farmers anticipating another record-breaking harvest
Russian grain farmers are anticipating a potentially record-breaking harvest during the current agriculture season of over 150mn tonnes of grain, according to Arkady Zlochevsky, the president of the Russian Grain Union, speaking on November 13.
According to earlier reports, Russian farmers have already harvested 147mn tonnes of grain as of November 7, including the new territories in Ukraine, with the export potential for the 2023-2024 agricultural season standing at 65mn tonnes, First Deputy Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said on November 8.
Ukraine's international reserves fell for the third month in a row in October to $38.97bn
Ukraine's international reserves declined for the third month in a row in October, under pressure from a trade deficit and delays in the arrival of fresh international aid. Reserves decreased by 1.9% to $38.97bn, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reported on November 8.
The NBU said the fall was due to its interventions in the currency market and the country's foreign currency debt payments as well. However, the impact of these factors was partially offset by income received from international partners, according to the NBU.
Base effect propels Russia’s car sales in September, with Chinese models dominating
New passenger and light commercial vehicle (LVCs) sales in Russia
in September 2023 jumped by 120% year on year to 116,234 vehicles, according to AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee data. In 9M23, total sales were up by 43% y/y to 0.76mn.
After Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, the domestic production of cars almost completely ceased in the summer months as the sector ground to a screeching halt. Car sales in Russia collapsed by 58.8% y/y in 2022 to 687,370 units and are only expected to recover to pre-war levels in 2027.
Czech PMI stays low in November
Czech manufacturing PMI data from the S&P Global market intelligence company posted 43.2 in November.
This is up from 42 in October but still indicates deteriorating conditions and a challenging market environment. The index deterioration run stretches back to June 2022, although it was slowest since March in November.
“Czech manufacturers continued to see a decline in the sector’s health in November, but some glimmers of light emerged as output, new orders and employment all fell at softer rates,” commented Sian Jones, principal economist at S&P.
Source: Rosstat
Ukraine gross intl reserves $mn
Source: NBU
Russia car sales, units in the period
Source: AEB
Czech manufacturing PMI
Source: IHS Markit
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