Russian wheat prices continued to rise last week. Higher prices at Euronext in Paris and strong demand from Egypt provided support.
Egypt's state grain buyer GASC bought 120,000 tonnes of Russian-sourced wheat and 120,000 tonnes of Romanian origin last week as part of an international tender.
Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5% protein supply in late March - early April rose $ 1 to $ 209 / ton FOB. This is reported by the Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR.
SovEcon reports unchanged wheat and corn prices of $ 208 / ton FOB and 190 / ton FOB, respectively. Barley prices fell $ 1 to $ 216 / ton following the strong rise in the previous week.
Looking at the weak ruble against the US dollar and the small rise in the domestic market, the current situation for exporters remains very good. Russian exporters currently have a gross margin of about $ 10 / ton due to the weak ruble. This factor also supports Russian grain exports in the coming weeks and months.
As of March 14, Russia exported 36.4 million tonnes of grain during the current marketing year 2017/18. Of which 28.4 millionTons of wheat. Exports are thus 39% higher than at the same time in the marketing period 2016/17.
SovEcon expects grain exports totaling 49.4 million tonnes this season, of which 38 million tonnes will be wheat.
The summer cereal sowing in Russia and Ukraine starts a little later. The reason for this is the recent cold snap and the existing snow cover. The soil moisture is optimal and the prospects for a big harvest are good.
Overall, SovEcon expects a Russian grain harvest of 128.7 million tonnes. Of which 77.6 million tons of wheat. In 2017, 135.4 million tonnes of grain were harvested (85.9 million tonnes of wheat).
The domestic prices for wheat of class 3 in the European part of Russia fell by 50 rubles to 8,575 rubles ex works.
