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IKAR in Mass Media

Russian grain price fall revives modest export activity

01 апреля 2013 года

MOSCOW, April 1 (Reuters) - A drop of about 10 percent in Russian grain prices since early February has revived interest in exporting small amounts of maize (corn) and wheat, the head of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) said.

"The country is exporting about 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes of grain, mainly maize and wheat, per week now," IKAR's Dmitry Rylko said in an interview on Monday.

Russia was hit by drought last year, which slashed its grain crop by one quarter and quickly depleted its exportable surplus. Its official 2012/13 grain export forecast stands at 14.8 million tonnes, down from 27 million tonnes a season earlier.

The drought also sent its domestic grain prices to record highs last year, but wheat prices have been falling since early February, helped by sales from government grain stocks.

Most of the expected shipments are going to countries such as Turkey and Albania and are less likely to reach Egypt, typically the biggest buyer of wheat but which is struggling to pay for imports, Rylko said.

Two years of turmoil after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak has hit the Egyptian economy, starving it of tourism revenues and resulting in a depreciating currency.

Egypt will receive payment facilities from American and European suppliers of wheat, an Egyptian newspaper on Saturday quoted minister of supplies Bassem Ouda as saying.

From the July 1 start of the 2012/13 marketing season through the end of March, Russia's grain exports exceeded 14.7 million tonnes, including 10.25 million of wheat, 2.04 million of barley and 1.42 million of maize, IKAR said.

The country has also already exported a record amount of rice - 282,000 tonnes in paddy equivalent - after last year's good harvest, IKAR added in a note. It exported 281,000 tonnes of paddy rice during the entire previous season.

DOMESTIC, GLOBAL PRICE FALLS

Russian wheat prices fell to $290 per tonne last week from $300 per tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis in the Azov Sea, IKAR said. SovEcon agricultural analysts quoted milling wheat prices at 8,700-8,800 roubles ($280) per tonne in shallow-water ports on a carriage-paid to (CPT) basis.

Maize prices were quoted at $282 per tonne on FOB basis in the Black Sea by IKAR, while SovEcon pegged maize prices flat at 8,300-8,800 roubles per tonne on CPT basis.

Russia has sold about 2.5 million tonnes of grain from its stocks since the start of 2012/13 season on July 1. It plans to sell an additional 1.9 million tonnes by the end of the season, slashing its stocks to about 300,000 tonnes.

Global wheat prices plunged after a U.S. government report last week put U.S. grain stocks far above market expectations. May milling wheat on the Paris futures market closed down 8.25 euros or 3.34 percent at 238.50 euros ($310) a tonne on Thursday.

In European Russia, the average domestic EXW (ex-silo) price for milling wheat declined by 200 roubles to 10,350 roubles per tonne last week. Feed wheat lost 250 roubles and was seen at 10,025 roubles per tonne, SovEcon added in a note.

Feed barley prices fell by 150 roubles to 8,525 roubles per tonne, while rye prices were down 200 roubles at 7,800 roubles per tonne, according to SovEcon.

As to oilseeds, domestic prices for sunflower seeds were down 150 roubles at 16,075 roubles per tonne, Sovecon said. IKAR pegged it at 16,135 roubles per tonne, down 20 roubles.

Export prices for crude sunflower oil were stable at $1,110-1,115 a tonne on a free-on-board basis, SovEcon added, while IKAR quoted domestic crude sunoil price at 33,530 roubles per tonne, down 40 roubles.

Soybean prices in Russia's South region were seen at $590 per tonne, down $9, according to IKAR.

Russia's domestic sugar prices rose by 500 roubles to 22,300 roubles per tonne or to $719 per tonne, up $13, IKAR added.

($1 = 0.7788 euros)
($1 = 31.0844 Russian roubles)

Source: Reuters  |  #grain   |  Comments: 0   Views: 47

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