Russian wheat export prices drop to lowest since 2020, analysts say
MOSCOW, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Russian wheat export prices continued to fall last week, hitting their lowest since late 2020, but analysts still believe they need to be lower to be competitive.
The price of 12.5% protein Russian wheat scheduled for free-on-board (FOB) delivery between late March and early April was $215 a metric ton, down $4 from the previous week, the IKAR agriculture consultancy reported.
The Sovecon agriculture consultancy pegged the same class of wheat at $216 to $220 a ton FOB, compared with $218 to $224 a week earlier.
“Russian FOB is seen flat or slightly lower. It still needs to go lower to compete with European wheat,” Sovecon noted.
Russia exported 1.03 million tons of grain last week, down from 1.2 million tons the previous week. The exports included 0.87 million tons of wheat, down from 1.12 million tons a week earlier, Sovecon wrote, citing port data.
The consultancy raised its estimate of February wheat exports by 0.5 million tons to 3.8 million tons, compared with 3 million tons a year earlier.
Other Russian data provided by Sovecon and IKAR:
Product:
Most recent data:
Change from a week earlier
– Domestic 3rd class wheat, European part of Russia, excludes delivery (Sovecon)
12,025 rbls/t
-150 rbls/t
– Sunflower seeds (Sovecon)
23,525 rbls/t
-125 rbls/t
– Domestic sunflower oil (Sovecon)
70,175 rbls/t
+675 rbls/t
– Domestic soybeans (Sovecon)
36,500 rbls/t
+875 rbls/t
– Export sunflower oil (IKAR)
$765/t
-$15
– White sugar, Russia’s south (IKAR)
$638.25/t
+$3.31/t
TABLE-Russian February grain export estimates from Sovecon consultancy ID:nL5N3F41JF
(Reporting by Olga Popova Editing by David Goodman)
