Russian grain stockpiles held by large agricultural producers, procurement companies and millers fell 15 percent from a year earlier as of Aug. 1, the Federal State Statistics service said.

Inventories came to 27.7 million metric tons, compared with 32.5 million tons at the start of August 2011, Rosstat, as the service is known, said today in an e-mailed statement. Producers held 15.7 million tons of grain as of Aug. 1 of this year, and procurement and milling companies had 12 million tons, it said.

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