MOSCOW: Russian wheat prices were broadly stable last week as strong demand from major customers including Egypt and India was offset by a strengthening of the rouble against the dollar, analysts said on Monday.
Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content for January supply were $182.5 a tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis at the end of last week, up $0.5 from a week earlier, Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR said.
Prices for wheat with 11.5 percent protein content rose to $182 per tonne on increased Indian purchases of Black Sea wheat and large supplies to Egypt. Egypt's state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), bought 240,000 tonnes of Russian wheat in a tender in late November for shipment on Jan. 2-11.
India has also ramped up purchases after it suspended an import duty on wheat. It bought around 200,000 tonnes of wheat from the Black Sea region, including 50,000 tonnes from Russia on Dec. 8-14.
SovEcon, another Moscow-based consultancy, quoted FOB wheat at $182.0 a tonne, down $0.5, and maize (corn) prices unchanged at $172 per tonne.
Russia exported 18.3 million tonnes of grain between July 1 and Dec. 14, down 1.8 percent year-on-year, including 14.3 million tonnes of wheat, the agriculture ministry said.
Domestic prices for third-class wheat, excluding delivery costs, fell by 50 roubles to 10,675 roubles ($173) a tonne in the European part of Russia, according to SovEcon. The decline was caused by stormy weather in ports, which delayed loading.
The agriculture ministry said on Monday it had halted domestic grain purchases for its stocks and would consider restarting in 2017. It bought 954,000 tonnes of grain from Aug. 19 to Dec. 14, raising its stockpile to 3.9 million tonnes.
Russia's grain stocks at farms and procurement and processing companies, excluding small farms, were up 11 percent from a year earlier at 45.0 million tonnes as of Dec. 1, data from the state statistics service Rosstat showed. Sunflower seed prices rose 125 roubles to 20,900 roubles a tonne, SovEcon said.
Domestic sunflower oil prices fell 500 roubles to 48,575 roubles, while export oil prices were down $5 at $780 a tonne.
IKAR's white sugar price index for southern Russia fell $1 to $543.5 a tonne as of Dec. 16.
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