MOSCOW, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Recent rains in several regions of Russia have hit the quality of winter wheat but improved the set-up for spring wheat, Russia-focused agriculture consultancy Sovecon said on Monday, adding more rains were expected this week.

Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, mainly supplying Africa and the Middle East, is expected to harvest a record high crop of the grain this year.

"There was too much rain for winter wheat at this stage which hits the quality - as farmers typically say, 'gluten and protein have been washed away'. However, it is improving the set-up for spring crops, including spring wheat," Sovecon said in a note.

Winter wheat, sown in autumn for harvesting in summer, typically accounts for 70% of Russia's crop. It brings a higher yield than the spring planted crop and is less vulnerable to adverse weather.

In the Russian domestic market, prices for low-quality 5th grade wheat fell by 375 roubles to 11,200 roubles ($179.5) per tonne last week amid rapidly rising supply, Sovecon said.

The share of low-quality wheat in Russia is typically relatively high in large crop years, and on top of that the overall quality has been reduced by rains this year, it said.

As of July 27, farmers in Russia had harvested 33 million tonnes of wheat from 7.6 million hectares. The average yield of 4.37 tonnes per hectare is close to the record high of 2017 when it was at 4.44 tonnes per hectare at the same percentage of the harvested area, Sovecon said.

Russia's agriculture ministry has yet to publish harvesting data in detail for the current season.

($1 = 62.4000 roubles) (Reporting by Reuters Editing by Mark Potter)


Reuters