Russian wheat export prices gained for an eighth straight week, spurred by rising Chicago benchmark prices on concerns that dry, hot weather will hit US crops, analysts said. Egypt's latest state tender, in which Cairo agreed to buy 115,000 tonnes of Russian wheat, also helped lift Russian prices.
Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content and for August delivery were at $194 a tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis at the end of last week, up $5 a tonne from a week earlier, IKAR agriculture consultancy said in a note. SovEcon, another Moscow-based consultancy, put Black Sea crop prices for supply in July-August up $6 at $190-193 per tonne.
Gains have been driven by a rally in Chicago. On Monday the most active wheat futures in Chicago rose 3.18 percent to $5.51-3/4 a bushel, although it remained below last week's two-year high of $5.74-1/2. Russia exported 35.5 million tonnes of grains in the 2016/17 marketing season that ended on June 30, up 4.7 percent from the previous season, the agriculture ministry said citing preliminary data. Exports in 2016/17 included 27.1 million tonnes of wheat.
Russia's grain harvesting has been delayed by rainy weather in several regions this year and farmers had harvested only 4.1 million tonnes by July 7, down from 9.6 million tonnes at around the same date in 2016. Domestic prices for third-class wheat fell 25 roubles last week to 9,275 roubles ($154) a tonne in the European part of Russia on an ex-works basis, according to SovEcon. Ex-works supply does not include delivery costs.
Russian sunflower seed prices rose by 325 roubles to 19,125 roubles per tonne, SovEcon said, while domestic sunflower oil prices increased by 1,000 roubles to 43,075 roubles and export oil prices were unchanged at $715 per tonne. IKAR's white sugar price index for southern Russia fell to $738.7 a tonne last week from $744.6 a week earlier.
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