OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2015. Russia's export and domestic prices for wheat fell last week on increased offers from farmers who needed funds for spring sowing after the rouble's slump, analysts said on Monday.

Russia has exported 26.2 million tonnes of grain, including supplies to neighbouring Kazakhstan, so far this 2014/15 season, which lasts until June 30, the IKAR consultancy said.

Wheat exports totalled 19.7 million tonnes, while barley exports hit a record 4 million tonnes.

"Farmers were selling out the remaining grain stock to increase working capital before the spring sowing," SovEcon, another Moscow-based agriculture consultancy, said in a note.

"Many of them have to do it more actively than usual. The cost of loans is twice as high as a year ago, while the rouble price of some resources is 40-50 percent higher," it said.

The consultancy expects Russia's March exports to rise to 1.5-1.6 million tonnes from about 1.3 million in February as traders will export more barley.

While wheat exports will remain under pressure from an export tax launched on February 1, wheat exports are also expected to rise month on month.

SovEcon also raised its grain exports forecast for 2014/15 by 1 million tonnes to 30 million tonnes, including 21 million tonnes of wheat.

At the end of last week, Black Sea prices for the new wheat crop with 12.5 percent protein content were down \\$5 on the week at \\$200 per tonne, IKAR said, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

Prices for old crop wheat with the same protein content were down \\$10 to \\$215 per tonne, it said.

Domestic prices for third-class wheat were down 75 roubles at 10,525 roubles (\\$169) per tonne in the European part of Russia on an ex-works basis, SovEcon said.

In the domestic sunflower seed market, SovEcon said prices fell 375 roubles to 21,825 roubles per tonne, while IKAR's price index was down 180 roubles to 22,290 roubles.

SovEcon said FOB Black Sea prices for crude sunflower oil were down \\$10 to \\$740 per tonne, while IKAR estimated them at \\$720.

IKAR's white sugar price index for Russia's south was at \\$649.6 per tonne, up \\$2.90 from a week ago.