Prices of wheat from Russia rose last week, as agriculture held back on sales after the sharp weakening of the ruble and withdrew previously agreed contracts.
In the past week, the ruble lost 6% in value terms to the US dollar. A new round of US sanctions on Russia fueled massive sales in the Russian currency and stock market.
Russian export wheat with 12.5% protein delivered in April last week cost $ 212 based on FOB, an increase of $ 2 over the previous week, reports Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR.
SovEcon reports a price of $ 211.00 / ton FOB (+ $ 3.00), while barley remained stable at $ 217 / ton. Corn rose $ 2 to $ 202 / ton.
The sharp devaluation of the ruble in the past week led to a short-term increase in profitability exports, SovEcon said. Further consequences were cancellations of already concluded agreements.
As of April 11, Russia exported 40.8 million tons of grain during the current marketing year 2017/18, of which 31.8 million tons were wheat. At the same time, grain exports increased by 39.4% year-on-year.
Class 3 wheat in the European part of Russia jumped 275 rubles to 9,050 rubles ($ 145) based on ex works.
