According to monitoring data, 48 rice-growing farms and processing enterprises of the Krasnodar Territory, the main region producing rice in the Russian Federation, total raw rice reserves in February 2017 amounted to 379.5 thousand tons, which is 46.6 thousand tons less (or 11%) compared to the same period last year (426.1 thousand tons). At the same time, the shares continue to decline - in January 2017, these figures amounted to 477.3 thousand tons, against 494.1 thousand tons last year, as reported on February 22 by the press service of the non-profit partnership Southern Rice Union. In addition, grain experts emphasized lower quality indicators of rice compared to the harvest of 2015, which somewhat reduced the production of cereals. At the same time, the annual demand for rice in the domestic market of Russia is 580-620 thousand tons, i.e. at least 45 thousand tons per month.
Taking into account the current situation, the domestic market will not face a deficit of almost 80 thousand tons until a new rice crop appears on the market. Of course, the influx of imports will cover the deficit, which will also lead to an increase in prices in the domestic market, said the Executive Director of the Southern Rice Union, Mikhail Radchenko. 
