IKAR in Mass Media

Stormy weather in ports presses on Russian wheat prices

15 декабря 2016 года

MOSCOW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Russian wheat prices fell last week due to stormy weather in the country's ports and as global benchmarks dropped on forecasts of hefty world inventories and bumper crops, analysts said on Monday.

Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content for December supply were at $182 a tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis at the end of last week, down $2 from a week earlier, Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR said.

Prices for the same protein content in the shallow-water ports fell $2 to $152 per tonne.

SovEcon, another Moscow-based consultancy, quoted FOB wheat and maize (corn) prices unchanged at $182.5 a tonne and $172 per tonne, respectively.

Domestic prices for third-class wheat, excluding delivery costs, remained at 10,725 roubles ($175.5) a tonne in the European part of Russia, according to SovEcon.

Prices for the fourth and fifth class fell 25 roubles to 9,375 and 8,175 roubles per tonne, respectively.

"The decline is happening amid the rouble strengthening and also due to slow loading in ports caused by stormy weather," SovEcon said.

Traders are concerned by rising competition between Russian and Argentinian wheat, while brighter crop prospects in Australia are worsening the position of Russian wheat in Asia, it added.

On the positive side, India's decision to remove a 10-percent import duty on wheat last week may support Russian wheat exports.

In late October, according to SovEcon, a cargo with 48,000 tonnes of wheat left the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk to India.

Russia exported 17.7 million tonnes of grain between July 1 and Dec. 7, down 0.3 percent year-on-year, including 13.9 million tonnes of wheat, the agriculture ministry said.

New-crop sunflower seed prices rose 150 roubles to 20,775 roubles a tonne, SovEcon said. Domestic sunflower oil prices added 75 roubles to 49,075 roubles, while export oil prices were up $5 at $785 a tonne.

IKAR's white sugar price index for southern Russia rose $10.3 to $544.25 a tonne as of Dec. 9.

($1 = 61.1195 roubles)

Source: Reuters | #grain | Comments: 0 Views: 54

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