MOSCOW, July 1 (Reuters) - Russian wheat export prices
have declined for the fourth week in a row, tracking global
markets amid good news about the new harvest.
    The price of 12.5% protein Russian new crop wheat scheduled
free-on-board (FOB) with delivery in late July was $226 per
metric ton at the end of last week, $5 lower than the price a
week earlier, according to the IKAR consultancy.
    Sovecon determined the price of wheat with a protein content
of 12.5% with the nearest delivery at $227-229 a ton at the end
of last week, down from $234-$236 a ton FOB.
    Last week's Egyptian GASC tender also showed a significant
decrease in the bid price for Russian wheat. For the first time
after several tenders, GASC bought 180,000 tons of wheat from
Russia at $227 per ton FOB for delivery in late August/early
September.
    "The free competition among Russian suppliers was of
interest. For many tenders, the Russian AgMin has been manually
setting prices, often leading to limited sales. This could be a
temporary measure aimed at pleasing GASC ... Alternatively, it
could be a longer-term policy aimed at helping exports amid the
Turkish ban," Sovecon said in a weekly note.
    Turkey has imposed a ban on wheat imports from 21 June to
mid-October this year to protect Turkish farmers from lower
prices and other negative effects during the new harvest.
    The price floor has been implemented by Russia since last
year in an effort to slow Russian wheat exports and cool
domestic flour and bread prices.
    Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter. Its exports
decreased to 0.79 million tons of grain last week from 0.83
million in the previous week. 
    Exports included 0.68 million tons of wheat, down from 0.77
million tons a week earlier, Sovecon wrote, citing port data.
    Sovecon kept unchanged its wheat exports export forecast in
June - a record 4.0 million tons for this month, compared to 3.6
million tons in June 2023.
    Last week Sovecon cut its 2024/25 Russian wheat export
forecast to 46.1 million tons from 47.8 million tons, reflecting
a smaller expected crop. For the 2023/24 season, which closed at
end-June, wheat exports are estimated at 52.2 million tons.
    Sovecon said it expects the current year's overall grain
harvest to be 127.4 million tons, well down on the previous
season's 144.9 million tons.
    Russia has almost completed its sowing campaign and started
harvesting the new crop in the southern regions of the country.
    "Russian southern regions continue to report relatively high
yields. Krasnodar and Stavropol yields remain noticeably above
the previous year, which is surprising, especially for the
latter. Rostov yields are substantially below last year, but
this aligns with our expectations", Sovecon noted.
    The Ministry of Agriculture reported on June 26 that
harvesting has started in 16 regions. Despite difficult weather
conditions, initial results exceed last year's and 6.2 million
tonnes of grain have been threshed.
     As of June 21, farmers had seeded 28.5 million hectares of
grains, compared to 30.5 million hectares in the same period in
2023. That included 12.6 million hectares of spring wheat,
compared to 13.8 million last year, Sovecon wrote.
    Weather is neutral for the new crop, the agency said.
    The hot weather may have a negative impact on spring wheat
yields in the Centre and Volga region, IKAR head Dmitry Rylko
said. But the agency maintains the existing crop forecasts.  
     Other Russian data provided by Sovecon and IKAR:

 Product:              Most recent data:  Change from a week
                                                     earlier
 - Domestic 3rd class      14,450 rbls/t         +100 rbls/t
 wheat, European part                     
 of Russia, excludes                      
 delivery (Sovecon)                       
 - Sunflower seeds         31,775 rbls/t         -250 rbls/t
 (Sovecon)                                
 - Domestic sunflower      76,850 rbls/t            0 rbls/t
 oil (Sovecon)                            
 - Domestic soybeans       40,000 rbls/t         -125 rbls/t
 (Sovecon)                                
 - Export sunflower               $910/t                -$10
 oil (IKAR)                               
 - White sugar,                $729.76/t            +$3.93/t
 Russia's south                                             
 (IKAR)                                   
 
    
 (Reporting by Olga Popova; Editing by David Evans)