London — Russian wheat exports between the start of the season on July 1and August 29 were 8.17 million mt, up 60% on the year, Russian Agriculture Ministry data showed Monday.
Higher-than-usual temperatures and dry weather over May-June resulted in an earlier-than-usual harvest and exports.
Meanwhile, this weather also hit production. Rain during the harvest, especially in central regions reduced the quality, sources said. Russian wheat production for this marketing year is expected to be about 68 million-70 million mt, down from a record high of 85 million mt last marketing year.
Wheat production is also expected to be lower in other producing regions, notably the EU, Canada and Australia, supporting wheat prices and incentivizing producers to take advantage by exporting. Deep sea port 12.5% protein wheat prompt loading was assessed at $225/mt Friday compared with $180.50/mt a year earlier, but $1.75 lower on the week and off the 42-month high of $234.50/mt hit on August 8.
The recent fall back in prices has stimulated buying interest and been reflected in the pace of exports, which showed a 32% increase on the week.
According to the latest USDA report, Russian wheat exports are forecast to be 35 million mt, down from 42 million mt exported in 2017-18. However, the Russian Agriculture Ministry may introduce export duties when exports hit 25 million mt to mitigate domestic inflation. A meeting between ministry officials and the trading community will be held later Monday.
In addition, 354,000 mt of corn was exported, down 29.6% on the year while barley exports were also lower at 1.2 million mt than the 1.39 million mt a year earlier.
