Grain storage industry current state and grain elevator system development

The paper examines the issues of the current state of the grain storage industry and the prospects for the development of a system of grain elevators in the Russian Federation. The objects of research are elevators, grain-receiving enterprises, grain processing enterprises. According to the authors, when placing elevators and grain-receiving enterprises, the production potential of each region must be taken into account. The main share in the total volume of storage at elevators falls on the Central, Southern and Volga Federal Districts and amounts to 73,2 %, the share of the Siberian Federal District accounts for 15 % of the total storage volume. The volume of elevator storage in the total volume of Russian storage capacities is slightly more than 31-32 %, the remaining 78-79 % falls on various types of grain warehouses, storage capacities of grain processing enterprises and others. In the context of price volatility, large and small agricultural enterprises are trying to increase their own grain storage capacity, reducing external costs and increasing revenues through a favorable price exchange rate. Over the past 5 years, new capacities have been commissioned through the construction of grain warehouses and metal silos. Of the modern projects for the commissioning of grain elevator storage and transportation facilities, attention should be paid to the development and implementation of the project New land grain corridor "Russia - China", which provides for the construction of 7 large linear elevators with a capacity of 200 thousand tons each in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East along the Trans-Siberian Railway. The first elevator will be built in the Altai Region. The main goal of the project is to increase the volume of exportoriented agricultural products with minimal logistics costs. The main link in the implementation of the new comprehensive project was the design and construction of the Zabaikalsk grain terminal with a capacity of up to 8 million tons per year, which was launched in 2022 as part of the East Siberian Economic Forum. The nomenclature of export grain includes 7 cereals, legumes and oilseeds grown on the territory of Siberia and the Far East on an industrial scale. The technical characteristics of the grain terminal allow for the uninterrupted transshipment of grain from a Russian train to a Chinese one, to solve the problem of the multi-gauge railway tracks in Russia and China, to optimize the logistics of food delivery to China, reducing delivery times to 2-3 weeks. In general,this will help Russian exporters not only expand their sales markets in Asia and the Middle East, but also successfully compete in the grain market with Canada and the United States.