MOSCOW: Russia's grain exports will not be subjected to any quotas from July to December, the agriculture ministry said on Tuesday, citing its initial plan.

The ministry, however, said it plans to impose grain export quotas in the second half of the season, which runs from January to June 2021, in order to ensure that the domestic market is adequately supplied.

The ministry's comments, which came in response to questions from Reuters, did not contain estimated figures for these quotas.

The ministry said it would meet grain exporters this week where it will disclose its preliminary forecast for 2020/21 grain exports. It said it would determine its forecast after the end of the harvest.

Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, had set a quota for grain exports of 7 million tonnes for April through June following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus which has so far infected more than half a million people in the country.

But the country's online grain export quota ran out rapidly at the end of April as traders rushed to secure customs documents for shipments in May and June, data from the ministry showed.-Reuters