IKAR in Mass Media

Russia’s new crop wheat price seen down 9pc

10 марта 2015 года

MOSCOW: Russia's wheat export prices are expected to fall 9 percent from current levels when the new crop starts arriving in large volumes in early July, IKAR, one of the leading Moscow-based agriculture consultancies, said on Tuesday.

Russian officials see the country, one of the world's key wheat exporters, having a good grain crop of up to 100 million tonnes as they seek to meet domestic market needs and replenish state stocks after a sharp drop in the rouble.

Future prices for the new wheat crop with 12.5 percent protein content are quoted by market participants at $205 per tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis in the Black Sea now, Dmitry Rylko, the head of IKAR, said.

Prices for old crop wheat with the same protein content were quoted at $225 per tonne last week on a FOB Black Sea basis, IKAR added. Russia's Agriculture ministry pegged current FOB prices slightly lower - at $213 per tonne, down 7.8 percent from a week earlier.

The Southern Federal District, the country's main wheat-exporting region, usually starts its harvesting in late June.

The decline in Russian wheat prices has been caused by a bounce in the rouble, SovEcon, another consultancy, said. The rouble rose slightly against the dollar last week but remains 47 percent down against the level of early 2014.

At the end of last week, domestic prices for third-class wheat were down 75 roubles compared with a week earlier at 10,600 roubles per tonne in the European part of Russia on an ex-works basis, according to SovEcon.

Domestic prices have been also under pressure from weaker demand from exporters, with business plunging after the government wheat export tax started on Feb. 1.

Russia's March grain exports are expected to remain flat, month-on-month, and to come in a range of 1.2-1.3 million tonnes of grains, including 0.5 million tonnes of wheat, Rylko added.

The ministry put grain exports at 156,000 tonnes, including 51,000 tonnes of wheat, in the first four days of March. Since the start of this marketing year on July 1, the country exported 24.7 million tonnes of grains, including 19.0 million tonnes of wheat.

In the domestic sunflowerseed market, SovEcon said prices fell 75 roubles to 22,200 roubles per tonne, while FOB Black Sea prices for crude sunflower oil were flat at $750 per tonne.

Source: Reuters | #grain | Comments: 0 Views: 90

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