Weakening euro boosts wheat exports against Russian competition

RUSSIAN wheat-export prices achieved only marginal gains for a second week as the weakening euro made competing European shipments more appealing.

Wheat for loading at Black Sea ports climbed to $193 a metric tonne last week, according to data from the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR).

The euro lost 1.5pc last week relative to the US dollar, making supplies from the European Union more competitive.

The weakening European currency is making it hard for Russian prices to increase.

European and Russian supplies often target the same markets.

Russian exports

Russian exports were 21pc faster this season as of October 25 — compared to a year earlier, government data shows. EU shipments to overseas markets lagged 23pc through October 24 even as the crop is bigger this year.

In other markets: ÷ Ukrainian wheat remained unchanged at $191/t last week ÷ French wheat rose 2.2pc to €165.09 ($191.95) a ton last week, FranceAgriMer data shows. The grain is for delivery at the country’s port of Rouen with a minimum of 11 pc protein content. ÷ German wheat climbed to €168.75 as of Friday, up 1.2pc from the previous week, according to Commodity3.

The data is for wheat with 12pc protein for loading at Baltic Sea ports on free-onboard terms.

(Bloomberg)