Export duty on Russian wheat to remain at nearly previous level at 1,755.9 rubles per tonne on May 14 - Agriculture Ministry

MOSCOW. May 12 (Interfax) - The export duty on Russian wheat will be 1,755.9 rubles per tonne on May 14, nearly the same level of 1,758.2 rubles per tonne in the previous duty period, the Agriculture Ministry said.

The duty on barley will once again be zeroed out, and the duty on corn will drop to 872.4 rubles per tonne from 925.3 rubles per tonne.

The duties are based on indicative prices of $205 per tonne for wheat against $249 per tonne the previous duty period, $204 per tonne for barley versus $204 per tonne, and $220.90 per tonne for corn against $220.90 per tonne.

The new rates are valid until May 20, 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 initially calculated in dollars and in rubles since July 2022. The duty is 70% of the difference between the reference and indicative prices.

The reference price for calculating the export duty on wheat was initially 15,000 rubles per tonne and the reference price on barley and corn was 13,875 rubles per tonne. These were raised in June 2023 to 17,000 rubles per tonne and 15,875 rubles per tonne, respectively. The prices were raised again on June 28, 2024, to 18,000 rubles per tonne for wheat and 16,875 rubles per tonne for barley and corn.