KYIV: Ukrainian trade houses have begun signing forward deals for wheat from the 2021 harvest for future export despite relatively high domestic prices, analyst APK-Inform said on Wednesday, citing uncertainty over prices for 2021 Russian wheat.

Russia doubled its wheat export tax to 50 euros ($60) a tonne in an attempt to curb coronavirus-driven food price inflation.

The Ukrainian government says the domestic wheat harvest could jump to 29.5 million tonnes in 2021, from 25.1 million tonnes last year, with exports potentially rising as high as 22 million tonnes, up from 17.5 million tonnes in the previous season.

APK-Inform said bid prices for 12.5% protein soft milling wheat ranged between $217 and $227 a tonne CPT (carriage paid to) Black Sea as of March 10. Feed wheat is quoted between $213 and $220 a tonne CPT.

Ukrainian wheat from the 2020 harvest was traded between $267 and $275 CPT Black Sea as of end of last week, the consultancy’s data showed.

The government has said the share of milling wheat in the total wheat harvest will be no less than 65%.

The Ukrainian national agrarian academy on Wednesday said that most of the country’s winter grain crops were in good or satisfactory condition in early March and only limited areas in central parts of the country have been damaged by frost.