MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices continue to rise as forecasters cut their harvest estimates due to poor weather and the slow pace of sowing, which slid to a six-year low.

The price of 12.5% protein Russian wheat scheduled for free-on-board (FOB) delivery in late June was $247 per metric ton, up from $239 per ton the previous week, according to the IKAR consultancy.

The Sovecon agriculture consultancy pegged the same class of wheat at $242-$246 a ton, up from $236-$240 a ton FOB.

Industry analysts continue to downgrade this season’s crop and export forecasts due to frosts in May and drought in southern and central regions. Waterlogged soil in Siberia has not yet been taken into account, analysts said.

Russia’s agriculture ministry does not plan to revise its forecasts for the grain harvest or exports, but may announce a country-wide emergency over the frost damage to crops, said newly-appointed Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut. Declaring an emergency can help farmers with insurance claims.

Some 1.5 million hectares of crops in Russia have been damaged by bitter frosts this spring, and the total figure may rise to 2 million hectares, the head of Russia’s Grain Union, Arkady Zlochevsky, said on Monday.

The weather outlook continues to deteriorate for the new wheat crop, Sovecon noted.

“The 4.1 million hectares planted for spring wheat is the smallest area since 2018,” the consultancy said in the weekly note.