MOSCOW: Russian wheat export prices fell again last week, ahead of the start of the marketing season on July 1 and the arrival of the new harvest, analysts said on Monday.
Last week, the southern regions of the country — the main grain-producing areas for Russian exports — announced the start of the harvest, with barley harvesting now under way. Yield estimates remain fairly high for the time being.
According to analysts, the harvest has been 5 to 10 days behind the average harvest dates.
The price of Russian new-crop wheat with 12.5 percent protein content for free-on-board delivery in the second half of July to early August was down USD2 at USD231 a metric ton at the end of last week versus the week before, said Dmitry Rylko, head of IKAR consultancy.
IKAR estimates Russia’s June wheat exports at about 2.5 million tons while exports in July are expected to be below 2.5 million tons.
Sovecon consultancy put last week’s prices for Russia’s new-crop wheat with 12.5 percent protein at USD233 a ton, down USD4 compared with the prior week.
The agency has revised its estimate for wheat exports in June downwards by 0.1 million tons to 2.1 million tons.