MOSCOW- Russian wheat export prices continued to fall last week, hitting their lowest since late 2020, but analysts still believe they need to be lower to be competitive.
The price of 12.5 percent protein Russian wheat scheduled for free-on-board (FOB) delivery between late March and early April was $215 a metric ton, down $4 from the previous week, the IKAR agriculture consultancy reported.
The Sovecon agriculture consultancy pegged the same class of wheat at $216 to $220 a ton FOB, compared with $218 to $224 a week earlier.
“Russian FOB is seen flat or slightly lower. It still needs to go lower to compete with European wheat,” Sovecon noted.
Russia exported 1.03 million tons of grain last week, down from 1.2 million tons the previous week. The exports included 0.87 million tons of wheat, down from 1.12 million tons a week earlier, Sovecon wrote, citing port data.
The consultancy raised its estimate of February wheat exports by 0.5 million tons to 3.8 million tons, compared with 3 million tons a year earlier.
Russia on Tuesday announced a six-month ban on gasoline exports from March 1 to compensate for rising demand from consumers and farmers and to allow for planned maintenance of refineries. – Reuters
