Russian grain prices fall with harvesting

Russian grain prices kept declining last week, led by feed grain, as harvesting progressed, analysts said. "Domestic feed wheat and feed barley prices are nearing a virtual bottom... as the country expects a relatively high share of feed grains in the new crop," the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) said.
"Rumours about bad quality of Ukrainian grain and abundant supply of feed grains also add to the decrease of the prices." SovEcon agricultural analysts said shortage and high prices of railway cars and rising prices of transportation by roads, as well as queues to grain silos, provide an additional pressure on prices. It said certain traders keep bid prices relatively high - 6,200-6,300 roubles ($265.3-$269.6) per tonne of fourth-grade milling wheat including delivery to Novorossiisk - due to necessity to honour burning contracts.