January 17, 2023

Wheat prices in Russia down due to increased competition

Analysts said wheat prices in Russia have declined slightly in mid-January due to increased competition from other exporters and high supply volumes, Hellenic Shipping News reported.

The IKAR agriculture consultancy said prices for Russian wheat with a 12.5% protein content that is delivered free on board (FOB) from Black Sea ports dropped US$1 last week to US$305 per tonne for delivery in the first half of February.

SovEcon, which cited port data, said Russian grain exports fell from 970,000 tonnes per week to 760,000 tonnes per week.

In total, 670,000 tonnes of wheat were exported out of that, down from 860,000 tonnes.

In January, SovEcon estimated that Russia would export 4.1 million tonnes of grain, including 3.7 million tonnes of wheat.

Analysts also said that despite prior concerns that cold temperatures could result in lost crops, a cold snap across southern Russia would only have a limited impact on winter wheat.

SovEcon warned that this week's temperatures, which were five to seven degrees below average, could cause some dead crops in the Russian Volga but probably didn't last long enough to have a big impact.

They observed that temperatures are now rising once more.

-      Hellenic Shipping News