Russian wheat up for 6th week on strong rouble, demand ahead of holiday

Export prices for Russian wheat rose for a sixth straight week last week due to a stronger rouble against the dollar and demand ahead of Russia's New Year holiday, analysts said.

Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5% protein content for January delivery rose $6 to $218 per tonne on a free on board (FOB) basis at the end of last week, agricultural consultancy IKAR said in a note.

SovEcon, another agricultural consultancy in Moscow, said wheat prices were up $3 to $216 per tonne. Barley fell by $2 to $186.5 per tonne.

Russia exported 22.4 million tonnes of grain, including 19.6 million tonnes of wheat, between the start of the 2019/20 season on July 1 and Dec. 19, SovEcon said, citing customs data. Total grain exports were down 15% from a year earlier.

The weather in Russia remains dry and far warmer than usual, SovEcon said. Colder weather is expected to arrive within a couple of weeks, but there is no threat for winter grain sowings so far, it said.

Domestic prices for third class wheat in the European part of Russia fell by 100 roubles to 11,650 roubles ($187) a tonne by the end of last week, SovEcon said. That price was on an ex-works basis, which excludes delivery costs.

Russia's 2019 grain crop totalled 120.6 million tonnes after drying and cleaning in 2019, the stats service said last week, citing preliminary data. That was up from 113.3 million tonnes in 2018.

SovEcon estimates that the stats service would add 100,000-300,000 tonnes when updating its crop estimate later in the season.

Sunflower seed prices rose by 475 roubles to 17,875 roubles a tonne, SovEcon said. Domestic prices for sunflower oil added 875 roubles and reached 44,175 roubles a tonne, while export prices jumped by $40 to $760 per tonne.

IKAR's price index for white sugar in southern Russia rose by $8.4 to $327.84 a tonne as of Dec. 20.