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Indonesia buys 125,000 tonnes of Russian wheat

Indonesia has bought around 125,000 tonnes of Russian wheat in deals signed earlier this month, the Black Sea region’s first new-crop sales in Asia. The three cargoes of Russian wheat with 12-percent protein content are for shipment between mid-July and mid-August, traders said. The deals were signed between $290 and $295 a tonne, including cost and freight (C&F).

That compares with a price of $305 being quoted for Indian wheat and around $320 to $330 a tonne offered for US and Australian cargoes in Asia. “We are getting a lot of enquiries for Black Sea wheat,” said one Singapore-based trader. “There will be more deals done in the coming days.” Iraq’s state grains board earlier this week bought 150,000 tonnes of hard wheat to be sourced from Russia in a tender. The purchase comprised 100,000 tonnes bought from Glencore at $324.55 a tonne, C&F, free out and 50,000 tonnes bought from CBH Grain at $328.89 a tonne.

Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov put the country’s 2014 grain crop forecast at 100 million tonnes on Thursday, up from an earlier forecast of 95 million tonnes, but said the crop in Crimea could be hurt by drought. Millers in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Malaysia are in talks with trading companies to book Black Sea wheat cargoes, traders said. “Most buyers in Asia are covered for wheat supplies until July,” said a second Singapore-based trader. “Now they are all looking at Russia and Ukraine for new-crop supplies as the harvest gets underway in the coming months.”

Source: Reuters