Russian wheat export prices rise

A rise in Russian wheat export prices stalled last week after three weeks of growth as the country lost a major purchasing tender in Egypt, its largest wheat buyer, analysts said on Monday. Egypt's state grain buyer GASC bought 360,000 tonnes of French and Romanian wheat in its tender last week. The Russian wheat on offer was too expensive to be competitive.
Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content and for delivery in February were $245 a tonne free on board (FOB) at the end of last week, unchanged from a week earlier, Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR said in a note. SovEcon, another Moscow-based consultancy, pegged FOB barley at $233 per tonne, down $1.
The seasonal decline in grain supply from Russia has so far happened more slowly than SovEcon earlier anticipated, it said. The country exported 31.4 million tonnes of grain from the start of the season on July 1 to Jan. 31, up 4 percent year-on-year, according to SovEcon. That included 26.7 million tonnes of wheat, up 13 percent.
It forecasts Russia's February exports of wheat, barley and maize (corn) at 2.45 million tonnes, down from 2.9 million tonnes in January. Russian domestic wheat prices remained supported by high demand from exporters searching for supplies for previously agreed contracts and lower supply as some farmers are still holding back sales from their stockpiles in the hope of seeing further price growth in coming weeks, SovEcon said.
Domestic prices for third-class wheat rose by 375 roubles to 12,350 roubles a tonne at the end of last week in the European part of Russia on an ex-works basis. Ex-works supply does not include delivery costs. Russia's Agriculture Ministry continued sales of grain from its stockpile last week, when it sold 154,000 tonnes of wheat. It has sold 1.4 million tonnes of grain, including 1.1 million tonnes of wheat, since the start of these sales this marketing year.
Sunflower seed prices rose by 450 roubles to 19,475 roubles a tonne, SovEcon said. Domestic sunflower oil prices rose by 350 roubles to 43,200 roubles a tonne, while export prices added $15 following growth in Ukrainian prices and reached $645 a tonne.