Russian wheat export prices rise on import demand

MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices rose for a second week in a row, responding to increased demand from importers while shipments accelerated, analysts said.

The price for Russian wheat with 12.5percent protein content for free-on-board (FOB) delivery in November was USD230 a metric ton at the end of last week, up USD2 from the previous week, said Dmitry Rylko, head of the IKAR consultancy.

Prices were supported by a series of international tenders, he said. Algerian state grains agency OAIC is believed to have purchased about 600,000 tons of wheat last week in an international tender at between USD259 to USD261 a ton cost and freight (c&f). Traders expected the purchase to include large supplies from the Black Sea region.

The Sovecon consultancy estimated the price for Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content at USD230-USD232 a ton FOB, compared with USD228-USD229 at the end of the previous week.

Sovecon made its first downgrade to its wheat export forecast for the 2025/26 exporting season on Friday, cutting its projection by about 0.3 million tons to 43.4 million tons after July-September exports slowed by 29percent.

Sovecon raised its forecast for September wheat exports by 0.1 million tons to 4.3 million tons.

IKAR estimates wheat exports in September at 4.1 million to 4.2 million tons, compared with 4 million to 4.2 million tons estimated a week earlier, noting an acceleration in exports.

Russia has already harvested 121 million tons of grain, including 87 million tons of wheat, Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said at the end of last week. She confirmed the previous forecast for the 2025 grain harvest at 135 million tons.

IKAR has raised its 2025 wheat crop forecast to 87.5 million tons, up from 87 million tons previously, mainly because of the situation in the Urals and Western Siberia, the agency said on Thursday. The wheat export forecast was raised by 0.1 million tons to 44.1 million tons.

Russia’s government has decided to declare a federal level emergency in the Rostov wheat region after bad weather caused massive crop losses, local authorities said on Saturday.