OREANDA-NEWS. February 11, 2015. Russia's domestic wheat prices rose last week due to rouble weakness and limited offers from farmers, analysts said on Tuesday, signalling that state efforts to cool prices are yet to work.

Russia imposed a tax on wheat exports from Feb. 1 on top of unofficial export curbs introduced in December in order to curb food price inflation caused by a 50 percent fall in the value of the rouble against the U.S. dollar since early 2014.

"The rise (in domestic grain prices) was caused by rouble depreciation," said Andrey Sizov Jr., managing director of SovEcon agriculture consultancy.

At the end of last week prices for third-class wheat were up 50 roubles compared with a week earlier at 10,700 roubles (\\$163) per tonne in the European part of Russia on ex-works basis, according to SovEcon.

Farmers were also holding wheat due to uncertainty over prices the Agriculture Ministry offers for its interventions, or restocking programme, when it buys cereals on domestic market.

Russia's annual food inflation hit 15.4 percent in December due to the slump in the rouble caused by weak oil prices, Western sanctions over the Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis, and a retaliatory Russian ban on most Western food imposed in August.

The ministry said on Saturday it recognised that higher purchase prices for interventions were inappropriate as the launch of wheat export tax allowed a stabilisation of the grain market.

The ministry offers up to 10,100 roubles for a tonne of third-class wheat in the European part of the country, 600 roubles less than the market price.

The ministry's restocking programme originally targeted several million tonnes of grain in the current 2014/15 marketing year, which ends on June 30. But so far it has bought only 348,800 tonnes of grain.

Russia exported 177,000 tonnes of grain, including 68,000 tonnes of wheat, in the first four days of February, according to ministry data.

Since the start of the marketing year on July 1, 2014, Russia has exported 23.5 million tonnes of grains, including 18.5 million tonnes of wheat, up 34 percent, year-on-year.

Grain stocks at farms and procurement and processing companies, excluding small farms, were up 13 percent from a year earlier to 32.6 million tonnes as of Jan. 1.

In the domestic sunflower seed market, SovEcon said prices rose 725 roubles to 22,100 roubles per tonne, while FOB Black Sea prices for crude sunflower oil were up \\$20 at \\$740-750 per tonne.

IKAR's white sugar price index for Russia's south was at \\$631 per tonne, down \\$9 from a week ago.