Russian wheat prices fell slightly last week as warm weather eased risks for the next year's crop, analysts said on Monday. Russian farmers were sowing winter grains for the next year's crop this autumn amid a lack of rain and in cold weather which triggered fears of a lower crop in 2015.
"Due to warm weather and rains in some regions (last week) the situation with Russia's winter wheat plantings has slightly improved, although in general they remain highly fragile," agriculture consultancy IKAR said in a note. Russia's Black Sea prices for wheat with 12.5 percent protein content were down $3 last week at $250 per tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis compared with a week earlier, IKAR added.
SovEcon, another Moscow-based agriculture consultancy, pegged FOB prices for wheat with the same protein content down $0.50 at $253 per tonne in deep-water ports. In the Azov Sea, prices were up sharply at $222 from $212 a tonne a week ago, IKAR said. SovEcon pegged FOB maize (corn) prices at $180 per tonne.
Russia, one of the world's top wheat exporters, is expected to supply between 3.1 million and 3.3 million tonnes of all grains in November, down from 3.5 million tonnes in October, IKAR said. Its October data included 2.5 million tonnes of wheat. Russia's domestic wheat market was supported by demand from Kazakhstan, where the crop's quality has been hit by bad weather this year. A slump in the rouble, which has lost about a quarter of its value against the dollar this year, has prompted some farmers to hold their wheat, creating short-covering problems for exporters and flour millers, IKAR added.
In the domestic sunflower seed market, SovEcon said prices rose 700 roubles to 15,550 roubles ($339) per tonne, while FOB Black Sea prices for crude sunflower oil were up $15 to $840 a tonne. IKAR quoted its domestic sunseed price index up $5 at $355 per tonne and domestic sunflower oil index at $809 per tonne up from $765. IKAR's white sugar price index for Russia's south was down at $686 per tonne, compared to $717 per tonne a week earlier.
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