IKAR: Russian wheat prices up for 10th week with global benchmarks

MOSCOW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Russian wheat export prices rose for the 10th consecutive week last week following higher global benchmarks in Chicago and Paris, analysts said on Monday.

Russian wheat with 12.5% protein loading from Black Sea ports for supply in early October was $301 a tonne, free on board (FOB), at the end of last week, up $1 from the previous week, the IKAR agriculture consultancy said in a note.

Sovecon, another consultancy, pegged wheat as having risen $1.50 to $304.5 a tonne, while barley was steady at $260 a tonne.

The wheat export tax, which Moscow has set on a weekly basis since June, will fall to $50.9 a tonne for Sept. 22-28 from the current $52.50. However, the tax is still high and the price index on which it is based remains lower than the actual FOB price.

Weather conditions remain good for sowing of winter grains for the 2022 crop in Russia, and the sowing campaign accelerated last week. Farmers have already sown winter grains on 9.2 million hectares compared to 9.3 million hectares at the same date a year ago.

However, the sowing is still down sharply year on year in the Volga region, which has been hit by dry weather this year, Sovecon said.

 Product:             Price at the end       Change from week
                         of last week:                earlier
 - Domestic 3rd       14,950 roubles/t               +25 rbls
 class wheat,                 ($203.8)  
 European part of                       
 Russia, excludes                       
 delivery (Sovecon)                     
 - Sunflower seeds       36,700 rbls/t            +3,175 rbls
 (Sovecon)                              
 - Domestic              86,500 rbls/t            -5,000 rbls
 sunflower oil                          
 (Sovecon)                              
 - export sunflower           $1,240/t                   +$20
 oil (Sovecon)                          
 - export sunflower           $1,260/t                   +$10
 oil (IKAR)                             
 - soybeans              48,900 rbls/t            +1,400 rbls
 (Sovecon)                              
 - white sugar,                 $631/t                  +$8.8
 Russia's south                         
 (IKAR)                                 
 ($1 = 73.3490 roubles)