Nov 13 (Reuters) - Russian wheat export prices have
risen for the second week in a row as global markets
strengthened slightly, but shipments have yet to pick up
significantly.
    The price of 12.5% protein Russian wheat scheduled for
free-on-board (FOB) delivery in late December was $230 per
metric ton last week, up from $226 in the previous week, the
IKAR agriculture consultancy reported.
    The Sovecon agriculture consultancy saw the price for the
same class of wheat last week at $230-236 per ton FOB, up $4
from the week before.
    "Russian export market was a mixed bag. FOB values rose
noticeably but export sales started to increase predicting a
recovery in exports", the agency noted.
    "We expect to see Russian FOB flat or higher. Current values
are still more than $10 per metric ton below Eastern EU offers".
    According to the Russian Grain Union, the pace of grain
shipments from Russia has decreased in recent weeks.
    Arkady Zlochevsky, head of the Union, attributed this to the
restrictive policy of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture,
citing, according to the existing information on the market, the
recommended price floor of the FOB export price of wheat at $250
per ton. In addition, the downtime of ships in the Kerch Strait
due to increased inspection during the passage under the Crimean
Bridge is also affecting export volumes, he said.
    "As a result, we are back to the discount (in the price of
Russian wheat to competing supplies): the country is losing
money, the farmers are losing money," he told a press conference
in Moscow on Monday.
    Last week the Russian Agriculture Ministry announced it has
determined the quota for grain exports in the next year at 24
million metric tons within the export potential of 65 million
tons in the 2023/24 season.
    "The quota news could have provided some support to the
market. However, in our view, the size of the quota is likely to
have a negligible impact on exports, if any. Our estimate of
wheat exports in February-June 2024 is 18 million tons," Sovecon
analysts noted.
    Russia exported 0.89 million tons of grain last week, down
from 0.90 million tons the week before, including 0.74 million
tons of wheat, compared with 0.76 million tons the previous
week, Sovecon wrote, citing port data. 
    Its estimate of wheat exports in November at 4.0 million
tons, compared with 4.3 million tons a year ago and 3.5 million
tons on average.
    The wheat harvest as of Nov. 9 totalled 94.3 million tons
versus 105.0 million tons  year earlier, from 29.0 million
hectares planted versus the previous year's 29.2 million.
    The average yield came in at 3.25 tons per hectare, against
3.59 tons per hectare a year before.
    Sowing of winter grains was carried out on an area of 18.3
million hectares, up from 17.5 million hectares a year earlier,
Sovecon wrote.
     
    Other Russian data provided by Sovecon and IKAR:

 Product:              Most recent data:    Change from week
                                                     earlier
 - Domestic 3rd class      12,450 rbls/t          -25 rbls/t
 wheat, European part                     
 of Russia, excludes                      
 delivery (Sovecon)                       
 - Sunflower seeds         22,525 rbls/t         +250 rbls/t
 (Sovecon)                                
 - Domestic sunflower      73,350 rbls/t         -650 rbls/t
 oil (Sovecon)                            
 - Domestic soybeans       35,100 rbls/t         +500 rbls/t
 (Sovecon)                                
 - Export sunflower               $800/t          +20 rbls/t
 oil (IKAR)                               
 - White sugar,                $630.91/t        +8.39 rbls/t
 Russia's south                                             
 (IKAR)                                   
 
 (Reporting by Olga Popova
Editing by David Evans)