Russian wheat, corn tax up to $94.90/mt, $69/mt, barley down

Russia's government has increased its grain export taxes for the last time this year with the new values covering the period December 29-January 11, until the country returns from the New Year and Orthodox holidays, according to an official notice published Friday.

The wheat tax was increased by just $0.90/mt to $94.90/mt, as the underlying Moscow Exchange (MOEX) index moved up by $1.30/mt to $335.60/mt.

The tax was still higher than the offers seen this week for Russian wheat, which landed in the range of $329-334/mt FOB NTT for December-January.

The barley tax was cut by $1.30/mt to $83.50/mt, as the indicative price softened to $304.40/mt, down $1.80/mt week-on-week.

This is almost in line with current selling ideas for Russian barley, spotted at $305/mt FOB NTT.

The corn export tax was revised up significantly to $69/mt, up $14/mt compared to last week, as the average index moved up by $20/mt to $283.60/mt.

The duty is calculated from a formula, whereby exporters will have to pay 70% of the difference between a floor price and a floating index price calculated by a panel of industry experts and published by MOEX.

The tax is updated on the final working day of the week and comes into force on the third working day after publication.

Along with that, there is the possibility that the government could decide to change the formula of the tax to push it further up in order to stabilize the domestic wheat market.