Russia: Export duty on barley, wheat to increase next week

The export duty on Russian wheat will rise 6.6% to 1,328.3 rubles per tonne in the week starting October 9 from 1,246 rubles per tonne during the previous duty period, the Agriculture Ministry said on October 4.

The duty on barley will increase to 229.5 rubles per tonne from 190.8 the previous week, while the duty on corn will decline 3.2% to 2,696.7 rubles per tonne from 2,786.2 rubles per tonne.

Duty rates are based on indicative prices of $213.40 per tonne for wheat against $213.40 per tonne in the previous period, $184 per tonne for barley versus $185 per tonne, and $222.30 per tonne for corn against $225 per tonne.

The duties are valid until October 15, inclusive.

Russia introduced a grain damper mechanism on June 2, 2021, which stipulates floating duties on the export of wheat, corn and barley and the return of funds received from them to subsidize agricultural producers. The duties are calculated weekly from indicators based on the prices of export contracts registered on the Moscow Exchange . Duty rates were calculated in dollars initially and in rubles since July 2022. The duty is 70% of the difference between reference and indicative prices.

The Agriculture Ministry on June 1, 2023, hiked the reference price for calculating the export duty on wheat to 17,000 rubles per tonne from 15,000 rubles per tonne, and the reference price on barley and corn to 15,875 rubles per tonne from 13,875 rubles per tonne. These rose to 18,000 rubles for wheat and 16,875 rubles for barley and corn on June 28, 2024.