Russian Wheat Continues Weekly Gains

Russian wheat export prices continued to rise last week amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and record shipments. The agricultural consulting firm "IKAR" reported that the price of Russian wheat with a protein content of 12.5% scheduled for delivery on a free-on-board basis by the beginning of September reached $250 per ton last week. The agricultural consulting company "SovEcon," which focuses its activities on Russia, noted in its weekly report, "There are rumors that the Russian Ministry of Agriculture wants to adjust the unofficial minimum price for wheat to $260 (per ton) on a free-on-board basis." SovEcon stated that total Russian wheat exports in August ranged between 4.8 and 5.1 million tons, compared to 3.5 million tons in August 2022, and an average of 4.7 million tons for previous August months. SovEcon cited port data indicating that Russia exported 1.26 million tons of grains last week compared to 1.23 million tons the previous week, including 1.19 million tons of wheat. They added that this is the largest weekly wheat shipment number since August 2021.