Russian wheat export prices fell last week in anticipation of high new harvest volumes and against a backdrop of competition among suppliers, analysts said on Monday. New-crop Russian wheat with 12.5% protein loading from Black Sea ports and for supply in July was $242 a tonne free on board (FOB) at the end of last week, down $7 from the previous week, the IKAR agriculture consultancy said in a note. Another consultancy, Sovecon, recorded a decline of $4.5 to $246 a tonne FOB for the week. Russia’s wheat export tax, which Moscow introduced on June 2 and is changing each week, will drop to $41.20 per tonne from July 7, according to data from the agriculture ministry. The low level of the tax is expected to boost Russian exports. “We expect Russian FOB to move slightly lower on the strong competition with other origins and weaker domestic prices,” Sovecon said. Yields in Russia’s south, where harvesting has started, were close to a record, while in the Volga and Saratov regions they were slightly below average, Sovecon said. Other Russian data provided by Sovecon and IKAR: Product: Price at the end Change from week of last week: earlier – Domestic 3rd 13,175 rbls/t -350 rbls class wheat, ($179) European part of Russia, excludes delivery (Sovecon) – Sunflower seeds 40,925 rbls/t -3,750 rbls (Sovecon) – Domestic 100,000 rbls/t unchanged sunflower oil (Sovecon) – export $1,115/t unchanged sunflower oil (Sovecon) – soybeans 48,800 rbls/t -500 rbls (Sovecon) – white sugar, $571.94/t -$25.66 Russia’s south (IKAR) ($1 = 73.4607 roubles)
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Olga Popova; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Alexander Smith)