Russian Wheat Market Steady On Demand, Currency

The Russian wheat market has firmed considerably over the last few weeks on strong demand and tight stocks, says the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR).

The aggressive government accumulation of intervention stocks has boosted domestic prices pushing second grade wheat prices from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk up to around $195/tonne, around $15/tonne higher than a month ago, said IKAR.

Higher prices and a stronger domestic currency, with the rouble hitting four month highs against the dollar and euro this past week, are starting to make Russian wheat a little less competitive on the export arena, they added.

Talk that the Russian government may be considering releasing 2 MMT of wheat from intervention stocks however to make room for new crop supplies would weigh on the market were that to happen.

It would be interesting to see if Egypt fancied taking any of that where it to come onto the market after the two countries recent spat over quality.

I'm still sure that there is more to that one than meets the eye, the last GASC tender was won by Russian wheat at around $180/FOB.