MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices have declined for the fourth week in a row, tracking global markets amid good news about the new harvest.

The price of 12.5% protein Russian new crop wheat scheduled free-on-board (FOB) with delivery in late July was $226 per metric ton at the end of last week, $5 lower than the price a week earlier, according to the IKAR consultancy.

Sovecon determined the price of wheat with a protein content of 12.5% with the nearest delivery at $227-229 a ton at the end of last week, down from $234-$236 a ton FOB.

Last week’s Egyptian GASC tender also showed a significant decrease in the bid price for Russian wheat. For the first time after several tenders, GASC bought 180,000 tons of wheat from Russia at $227 per ton FOB for delivery in late August/early September.

“The free competition among Russian suppliers was of interest. For many tenders, the Russian AgMin has been manually setting prices, often leading to limited sales. This could be a temporary measure aimed at pleasing GASC ... Alternatively, it could be a longer-term policy aimed at helping exports amid the Turkish ban,” Sovecon said in a weekly note.

Turkey has imposed a ban on wheat imports from 21 June to mid-October this year to protect Turkish farmers from lower prices and other negative effects during the new harvest.