MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices have risen for the second week in a row as global markets strengthened slightly, but shipments have yet to pick up significantly.

The price of 12.5% protein Russian wheat scheduled for free-on-board (FOB) delivery in late December was $230 per metric ton last week, up from $226 in the previous week, the IKAR agriculture consultancy reported.

The Sovecon agriculture consultancy saw the price for the same class of wheat last week at $230-236 per ton FOB, up $4 from the week before.

“Russian export market was a mixed bag. FOB values rose noticeably but export sales started to increase predicting a recovery in exports”, the agency noted.

“We expect to see Russian FOB flat or higher. Current values are still more than $10 per metric ton below Eastern EU offers”.

According to the Russian Grain Union, the pace of grain shipments from Russia has decreased in recent weeks.

Arkady Zlochevsky, head of the Union, attributed this to the restrictive policy of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, citing, according to the existing information on the market, the recommended price floor of the FOB export price of wheat at $250 per ton. In addition, the downtime of ships in the Kerch Strait due to increased inspection during the passage under the Crimean Bridge is also affecting export volumes, he said.