MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices rose for the second week in a row, buoyed by world markets, and shipments may set a new record for March, analysts said.

The price of 12.5% protein Russian wheat scheduled for free-on-board (FOB) delivery in April was $204.5 a metric ton, up $3.5 from the previous week, the IKAR agriculture consultancy reported.

The Sovecon agriculture consultancy pegged the same class of wheat at $202 to $205 a ton FOB, compared with $201 to $204 a week earlier.

Russia exported 1.27 million tons of grain last week, up from 1.20 million tons the previous week. The exports included 1.14 million tons of wheat, up from 0.93 million tons a week earlier, Sovecon wrote, citing port data.

The consultancy raised its estimate for wheat exports in March by 0.2 million tons to 5.0 million tons, a record for March, compared to 4.8 million tons a year ago.