Russian wheat prices rose sharply last week, supported by higher global benchmarks as Chicago wheat prices touched a six-month peak and helped by strong demand for Black Sea wheat in Asia, analysts said on Monday. Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content for March delivery were at $202 a tonne free on board (FOB) at the end of last week, up $5 from a week earlier, Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR said in a note.

SovEcon, another Moscow-based consultancy, quoted FOB wheat prices in the Black Sea area up $2 at $200 a tonne, the highest level since mid-2017. Prices for barley gained $2.50 to $201.50 a tonne and prices for maize (corn) were up $3 to $182 a tonne. As of February 14, Russia had exported 32.5 million tonnes of grain since the start of the 2017/18 season on July 1, including 25.4 million tonnes of wheat, the agriculture ministry said. The pace of grain exports was up 39 percent compared with the same period in the previous season.

Domestic prices for third-class wheat rose 25 roubles to 8,600 roubles ($152) a tonne in the European part of Russia on an ex-works basis, SovEcon said. Ex-works supply does not include delivery costs. Sunflower seed prices rose 200 roubles to 19,750 roubles a tonne, SovEcon said. Domestic sunflower oil prices fell 675 roubles to 43,075 a tonne, while sunflower oil export prices fell $5 to $740 a tonne.

Copyright Reuters, 2018