MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices fell further last week as the rouble dropped close to a record low against the dollar on weak oil prices.
Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content were at $181-182 a tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis at the end of last week, down $2-$3 from a week earlier, Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR said in a note.
SovEcon, another Moscow-based consultancy, quoted FOB wheat prices in the Black Sea area at $182.5 per tonne.
Black Sea barley and corn (maize) prices were at $170 a tonne and $159 a tonne, respectively, IKAR added.
The rouble is down 6 percent against the dollar since the start of 2016.
Russia exported 20.8 million tonnes of grains, including 15.5 million tonnes of wheat, between July 1 and Jan. 13, the agriculture ministry said. The pace of grain exports was down 4 percent year on year.
Including supplies to Kazakhstan, which are not monitored by the official data, Russia’s wheat exports were at 16 million tonnes, IKAR said. Exports of barley and corn reached a record 3.2 million tonnes and 1.8 million tonnes respectively.
Preliminary official data showed that Russia harvested 104.3 million tonnes of grain by clean weight in 2015, down from 105.3 million tonnes in 2014.
The wheat harvest totalled 61.8 million tonnes in 2015, down from 59.7 million tonnes the previous year. SovEcon said the bigger than expected crop could add some pressure on domestic prices.
Domestic prices for third-class wheat added 150 roubles compared with the end of 2015 to 11,150 roubles ($142) a tonne in the European part of Russia on an ex-works basis, according to SovEcon. Ex-works supply does not include delivery costs.
The country harvested 37.6 million tonnes of sugar beet in 2015, from which plants have already processed 34.5 million tonnes and produced 5.1 million tonnes of beet sugar, the official data showed.
IKAR’s white sugar price index for southern Russia was at $590.7 a tonne at the end of last week, up $11.50 from the end of 2015.
SovEcon also said average prices for sunflower seeds were flat at 25,425 roubles a tonne. Domestic sunflower oil prices jumped 1,925 roubles to 57,000 roubles a tonne because of the rouble weakening, while FOB Black Sea export prices were down $10 to $770 a tonne.
