Average Russian grain prices rose last week, but the rate of increase slowed and there was a decline in some parts of the country, analysts said. The price of cereals in the European part of the country was either stable or rose insignificantly, except for the Central Federal District, where prices rose on demand from some processors, SovEcon agricultural analysts said.
There have been signs of growing disagreement over prices between buyers and sellers, the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) said. Buyers were eager to push prices down against a background of bearish world markets and a gap between current domestic prices and the potential starting price for the new harvest.
At the same time, domestic grain balances appear quite tight two and half months before the new harvesting campaign starts, which makes sellers reluctant to give any discounts, IKAR said. SovEcon added that prices stopped rising in Siberia last week and some traders even reported a decline. During the week, third-grade milling wheat and feed barley rose by around $1 per tonne to $410 and $327, respectively, IKAR said.
Fourth-grade milling and fifth-grade feed declined to $385 and $366 (all prices ex-silo, Central Black Earth region). SovEcon said that, in some parts of the Central Black Earth region, wheat prices rose by 300-400 roubles ($12.71-$16.94) per tonne, although in most other regions all wheat grades rose by an average of 50 roubles. Milling rye prices rose by 350 roubles per tonne on low stocks and high demand from flour mills, it said. Feed barley prices were stable, while feed maize rose by 150 roubles a tonne.