IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russian grain, sunseed prices keep falling

Reuters

MOSCOW, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Russian grain prices declined substantially last week despite a moderate rise in world markets, analysts said.

Standard wheat forward prices (FOB Novorossiisk) with December delivery were set at levels close to $150 per tonne, while feed barley prices were fixed around $130 per tonne, after Russian grain traders had won some important tenders, the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) said.

These prices are much lower than the November levels of $170 and $155, respectively.

Exporters' demand on the domestic market remained quite weak, SovEcon agricultural analysts said.

Slowing exports -- which, according to preliminary data, were 2.3 million tonnes in October compared to 3 million in September -- rising costs and doubts about the market reversal, force traders sell already bought grain and refrain from building stocks, it said.

Producers became more active in offering grain to the state at the intervention tenders after the government had raised the support price for the benchmark third-grade wheat to 5,500 roubles ($203.7) per tonne from the previous 5,000-5,100.

The government has already bought around 0.8 million tonnes of grain. It has decided to hold three tender sessions per week instead of two, which will speed up purchases, SovEcon said.

The government has said it was considering a package of urgent measures to support the domestic grain industry, but did not specify the measures, IKAR said.

It said that in the south of Russia third-grade wheat lost $3 per tonne, declining to $171, fourth-grade lost $5 to $130, fifth-grade feed wheat lost $4 to $107. Feed barley reached feed wheat price levels, while maize shrank drastically.

Sunseed prices declined to $210 from $230 per tonne. Crude sunoil fell to $770 per tonne, IKAR said. It expects prices to decline further as price levels in neighbouring Ukraine are much lower.

SovEcon said oil crushers were lowering bid prices and some were delaying payment for seeds that had already been bought. Bid prices reached 5,000-6,000 roubles per tonne.

Market players expect major processors to wind up purchases after accumulating sufficient stocks, it said.

Domestic white sugar prices were practically unchanged at around $520 per tonne in Krasnodar.

17.11.08

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