Even though Russia harvested 90 million tons of grain in 2013 and is one of the top five wheat exporting countries in the world, the lack of investment in infrastructure and a lack of competition between terminal owners have greatly increased grain handling costs in the country, pushing Russian charges to one of the highest in the world. In response, global grain traders such as Glencore, Cargill and Bunge have been buying interests in Russian port facilities. Glencore has bought stakes in terminals in Taman, Bunge owns a port in Rostov, and Cargill has recently bought a 25% stake in a grain terminal in Novorossiysk in December 2013. Smaller and mid-sized traders are concerned that these purchases could reduce the export volumes available for competitors without terminal ownership. Russian companies have planned investments which should see the capacity of Russian grain terminals increase from 30 million tons today to 50 million tons by 2020 if grain prices remain high supporting such projects.
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