MOSCOW- Russian wheat export prices rose for the second week in a row last week along with global markets, while the pace of exports also accelerated, analysts said.
The price of Russia’s new wheat crop with 12.5 percent protein content, delivered free on board (FOB) from the Black Sea in July, was assessed at the end of last week at $231 a ton compared to $228 a ton the previous week by the IKAR agriculture consultancy.
On Monday, the forwards for the new crop were already seen as higher – about $235 a ton, said Dmitry Rylko, head of the agency.
The Russia-focused agricultural consultancy Sovecon raised the estimate for total Russian wheat exports in June by 200,000 tons to 3.2 million tons, compared to 1.0 million tons in June 2022 and 1.4 million tons on average.
Russia exported 1.0 million tons of grain last week compared to 680,000 tons a week earlier, including 970,000 tons of wheat compared to 560,000 tons a week earlier, Sovecon wrote in its weekly note, citing port data.
As of June 22, farmers had sown 30.5 million hectares of grains compared to 29.1 million hectares in 2022, including 13.8 million hectares of wheat. Spring sowing is almost completed. Weather conditions are improving for spring wheat, Sovecon noted.
The harvesting campaign has started in the south. As of June 22, farmers had harvested 300,000 tons of grain in bunker weight compared to 449.000 tons in 2022, Sovecon said.
