Ukraine & Russia: Wheat prices lower on news Ukraine could lift cap on wheat exports

Wheat prices in Western Europe were lower on Tuesday, April, 23 after Ukraine confirmed it could lift its cap on wheat exports for the remainder of the season, providing additional competition for EU supplies in coming months, Reuters reported.

Front-month May milling wheat in Paris was down 0.6 percent at 242.25 euros a tonne by 1140 GMT. New-crop benchmark November was down 1.1 percent at 210.50 euros.

Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk told reporters Kiev was "ready to make the market free" and that the decision could be taken this week, allowing traders to ship abroad about 500,000 tonnes of the commodity. Prysyazhnyuk had said last month that the issue would be discussed in April but that a decision would depend on the condition of the winter wheat crop, which accounts for more than 95 percent of Ukraine's total wheat output.

Russia had already revived exports of wheat from the Black Sea last week after sales from government grain stocks led to a price slide of about 18 percent since February, analysts said. The country could export a few hundred thousand tonnes of grain in the period from April to the end of the marketing year on June 30, SovEcon think-tank said. Some West European traders pegged Russian wheat exports during that period at between 300,000 and 400,000 tonnes. The news added to concern about slowing export demand. Prices in Britain and Germany were also lower with November feed wheat in London off 0.4 percent at 183.75 pounds a tonne.

24 April, 2013