Limited trade pressurises Russian grain prices

 

 

Most Russian grain prices fell further last week on the back of lower global prices, while trading was muted as buyers held out for a deeper decline and bad weather halted some shipments.

 

Grain export forward contract prices have declined following international trends and reports about abundant world supplies, said the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR).

 

The institute said the forward price for wheat with 11.5 protein content and with less than 1% bug damage declined to US$175 per tonne FOB Novorossiisk from US$182, and with damage of 1.5% to US$170 per tonne from US$180-US$183 a week ago.

 

Feed barley was valued at US$140 per tonne, some US$2 less than in the previous week, IKAR said.

 

Azov Sea and Don River shallow ports activity was very low due to difficult weather conditions, it said.

 

SovEcon agricultural analysts noted that most traders refrain from making new purchases, while they buy grain under old contracts at prices close to those of December.

 

Exporters bid for fourth-grade milling wheat at around RUB5,000 (US$166) per tonne including delivery (CPT) to Novorossiisk and at 4,500 tonnes for shallow water ports.

 

Average offer prices for third- and fourth-grade wheat declined by RUB25 (US$0.83) to RUB4,150 (US$138) and to RUB4,100 (US$136.2) per tonne, respectively, while feed wheat rose by RUB25 to RUB3,150 (US$104.6) per tonne.

 

Corn prices rose RUB250 (US$8.3) to RUB4,950 (US$164.4) per tonne on active processors' purchases, SovEcon said. It said the upward trend on the corn market may be close to an end, as corn is becoming more expensive than other cereals which may serve as its substitutes for distillers and animal feed producers.

 

SovEcon said the start of a record soy harvesting in Latin America was dampening world oilseed prices.

 

But soy prices in the south of Russia kept rising, reaching US$555 per tonne, up from US$544 a week before, IKAR said.