Russia increases wheat export tax Rb593 to Rb5,220/mt for Aug. 10-16

Russia's agriculture ministry Aug. 5 set the variable export tax on wheat at Rb 5,219.6/mt ($85/mt) for Aug. 10-16, up Rb592.8 from the previous seven-day period.

Russia's wheat sellers typically price their exports in dollars and procure wheat on the domestic market in rubles. That trade has recently become more complicated as a result of the ruble's volatility and the reduced convertibility of the Russian currency.

Russia introduced a fixed duty on wheat exports in February 2021 in response to rising global prices. The country then moved to a variable rate on June 2, 2021. It is published each Friday and enters into force on the Wednesday of the following week.

The rate had been set in dollars until June 28, when the ministry of economic development said it would switch to rubles and changed the mechanism it used to calculate the duty.

The export duty is calculated as a percentage of the difference between a base price and the average of export prices on an FOB basis during the 60 days preceding the day of calculation. For the latest calculation, that average was $369.4/mt.

Since these FOB prices are in dollars and the duty is set in the Russian currency, the government converts the average into rubles using the central bank's exchange rate over the previous five days.

When the government set the duty in dollars, it was equivalent to 70% of the premium of that average above $200/mt, with even higher rates applied when the average price exceeded thresholds at $375/mt and $400/mt.

Under the new ruble-based mechanism, the initial threshold, or base price, is set at Rb15,000/mt instead of $200/mt.