IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Russian grain prices up on weak dollar, world rise

Reuters

MOSCOW, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Russian grain prices rose last week, tracking a pick up in the global market and boosted by the weakening dollar, analysts said on Monday.

Ordinary milling wheat export prices rose to $177-$178 per tonne from $170 a week before. Feed barley prices picked up to $149 from $145 FOB Novorossiisk, the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies said.

SovEcon Agricultural analysts estimated ordinary wheat export prices slightly higher at around $182 FOB Novorossiisk, up $7 on the previous week.

They said exporters have raised bid prices for fourth-grade (ordinary) wheat at ports by 100 roubles ($3.44) to 4,700-4,800 roubles per tonne, while major exporters started buying maize on the domestic market at 3,600 roubles per tonne, including delivery to elevators. Domestic internal prices have risen by $1-$3 per tonne, IKAR said. Third-grade wheat prices rose to $149 per tonne, fourth-grade to $138 per tonne and fifth-grade feed wheat to $107, ex-silo, southern Russia.

Feed barley and maize added $1 to $84 and $134 per tonne, respectively, it said. SovEcon said average offer prices for fourth-grade and fifth-grade wheat rose by 100 roubles in the European part of Russia to 3,775 and 2,550 roubles per tonne, respectively.

IKAR expects a further rise of feed barley in the south and centre of Russia due to scarce supply caused by record export volumes.

The government has announced its plans to start intervention purchaces around Nov. 2, intending to spend just 9.5 billion roubles.

Both SovEcon and IKAR believe that the purchases are unlikely to support market prices significantly, but they expect strong competition between potential sellers, which may result in a notable decline of purchase prices at auctions.

SovEcon said both sunseeds and sunoil prices kept declining last week. Offer prices for sunseeds in the European part of Russia fell by 225 roubles per tonne to 8,975 roubles and crude sunoil by 175 roubles to 23,325 per tonne.

However, in the key sunseed growing region, North Caucasus, prices were stable after a five-week decline. SovEcon believed that sunseed prices may yet decline further, while sunoil prices appear to have reached their bottom.

Sugar ex-factory prices rose to $866 per tonne from $815 a week ago in Krasnodar, IKAR said. Domestic beet sugar prices are climbing rapidly to the virtual cost levels of refining white sugar from imported raws, it said.

10.11.09

All viewing: 90
Discuss