Russian grain prices fell last week on intervention sales of government stocks, analysts said on Monday. The government has already sold around 710,000 tonnes of grain at intervention tenders, including 96,000 tonnes last week. In the south of Russia, third-grade wheat fell to $216 per tonne from $225, fourth-grade wheat to $204 from $213, feed wheat to $195 from $204, feed barley to $278 from $292, maize to $291 from $310, the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) said.
Rumours about Ukraine's plans to drop maize export quotas have added to unease in southern Russia, where grain stocks are unusually high, while overall market demand is bulked by low prices in the intervention sales, it said in a weekly note.
Wheat prices fell 200 roubles ($7.04) to 6,800 roubles per tonne for third-grade wheat and 6,400 for fourth-grade EXW in European Russia, SovEcon agricultural analysts said in a separate note. Milling rye prices fell 250 roubles per tonne, SovEcon added, saying that in the previous weeks prices were falling by 50-100 roubles per tonne per week.
As support prices prevent tender prices from falling, buyers are becoming more and more interested in purchasing grain from regional markets, and SovEcon therefore expects less trade to take place at tenders. Sunseed prices in southern Russia declined to $668 per tonne from $687 and crude sunoil to $1,493 from $1,545 per tonne, to $1493, IKAR said.
SovEcon said sunseeds fell by 225 roubles per tonne to 19,625 and sunoil by 825 roubles to 44,675 per tonne, EXW European Russia, on a strong rouble and negative world price dynamics. White sugar prices plunged to $1,044 per tonne from $1,115 and to 30,000 roubles per tonne from 31,700 due to rising supply and a lower international prices caused by the Middle East crisis.