MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices rose for the third week in a row, with analysts pointing to increased weather risks to the new crop.

The price of 12.5% protein Russian wheat scheduled for free-on-board (FOB) delivery in late April-early May was $208.0 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 $205 to $208 a ton FOB, compared with $202 to $205 a week earlier.

Russia exported 1.02 million tons of grain last week, down from 1.27 million tons the previous week.

The exports included 0.84 million tons of wheat, down from 1.14 million tons a week earlier, Sovecon wrote, citing port data.

The consultancy lowered its estimate for wheat exports in March by 0.1 million tons to 4.9 million tons, still a record for March, compared with 4.8 million tons a year ago.

“Southern weather is becoming a bigger problem for the new crop. A big part of Rostov and Krasnodar (#1 and #2 grower) is expected to remain drier than average”, Sovecon noted.