Russia Wheat Exports Restricted by Price, SovEcon says

Russia lost the latest wheat tender in Egypt because it offered the cereal for nearly 12 percent more than the winning bid from the U.S., SovEcon said on its website.

Russia’s price was $292.75 a metric ton, compared with $262 a ton for U.S. wheat on a so-called free-on-board basis with delivery in April, according to the Moscow-based agricultural researcher.

Egypt bought 55,000 tons of wheat from the U.S. in a tender over the weekend, according to Nomani Nomani, vice chairman of the state-run General Authority for Supply Commodities.

Russia’s grain stocks in the south are falling, which raised the cost, Andrei Sizov, SovEcon’s managing director, told Bloomberg in Moscow today. Traders have to buy more affordable grains from other regions further from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, which increases transportation costs, he said. The ruble strengthening also made the export price less attractive, he said.

“It is interesting that there was just one proposal of grain from Russia in the Egyptian tender last week,” Sizov said.