Russian wheat export prices clinb, stronger shipments halt domestic price decline

MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices rose last week amid a firmer Black Sea market, while increased grain shipments helped halt a decline in domestic prices, analysts said.

Consultancy IKAR said that, by the end of last week, export prices for wheat with 12.5 percent protein content shipped from the Russian ports of Vysotsk and Ust-Luga were at USD268 a metric ton free-on-board (FOB) for delivery late November–early December, up USD2 from the previous week.

Most shipments are now being redirected to Baltic terminals because southern Russian ports are largely closed. Shipments via ports in the Azov-Black Sea basin came to almost a standstill from mid-August due to attacks on vessels and damage to terminals as Ukraine and Russia target each other’s infrastructure amid their conflict.

IKAR has raised its forecast for wheat exports in October to up to 3 million tons, from 2.5 million tons previously, based on the expansion of transhipment capacity and provided that favourable weather and logistics conditions persist.

SovEcon forecasts wheat exports in October at 2.5 million tons, which is half last year’s figure of 5.1 million tons and, for the time being, lower than the September estimate of 2.6 million tons.