MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices rose last week while export volumes fell, analysts said on Monday, noting some farmers were postponing sales to try to minimise their taxes, while weather conditions in Black Sea and Sea of Azov ports were difficult for navigation.

Dmitry Rylko, head of the IKAR consultancy, said the price of Russian wheat with 12.5% protein for free-on-board (FOB) delivery in late December to early January increased by $6 to $234 per metric ton.

The Sovecon consultancy said prices for Russian wheat with the same protein content and delivery terms were $227 to $232 per ton, compared with $225 to $229 the previous week.

Sovecon noted that farmers were reluctant to sell at the end of the year and were deferring sales to next year to minimise their tax costs.

Weekly grain exports were estimated at 0.97 million metric tons, including 0.92 million tons of wheat, down from 1.08 million tons of grain and 1.01 million tons of wheat the previous week, according to Sovecon.