Russia’s exports volumes represented an increase of 271,167 tonnes, 59%, compared with 461,013 tonnes loaded in the previous week.

The rise in weekly exports was largely driven by higher shipments to African destinations, with the absolute volume sent to the continent increasing from 331,540 tonnes last week to 495,419 tonnes in the week under review.

Egypt remained the largest importer in the week, receiving 203,599 tonnes, followed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia with 66,000 tonnes each. Algeria imported 62,000 tonnes, while Sudan, Kenya and Nigeria accounted for 58,300 tonnes, 50,620 tonnes and 37,900 tonnes respectively. Ethiopia, Libya and Tunisia each received 27,500 tonnes and Turkey imported 26,961 tonnes. Shipments to unspecified destinations totaled 78,300 tonnes.

Apart from the volume shipped last week, an additional 964,850 tonnes of milling wheat was currently under loading.

The largest confirmed shipment was to Israel with 143,500 tonnes, followed by Algeria (123,000 tonnes), Egypt (122,000 tonnes) and the UAE (66,700 tonnes). Approximately 217,700 tonnes still had no designated destination, pending allocation.

Additionally, shipments were made to Saudi Arabia (66,000 tonnes), Eritrea (60,000 tonnes), Turkey (52,000 tonnes), Kenya (51,250 tonnes), Senegal (32,000 tonnes) and Morocco (30,700 tonnes).

Another 1.716 million tonnes of milling wheat was currently en route and expected to reach its destination, according to the current lineup.

The confirmed destinations for the milling wheat include Saudi Arabia (201,400 tonnes), Egypt (116,000 tonnes), Tanzania (107,426 tonnes), Sudan (68,349 tonnes), Oman (66,680 tonnes), Iraq (54,555 tonnes), Yemen (46,800 tonnes), Sri Lanka (31,800 tonnes) and Israel (20,000 tonnes), while approximately 1,003,350 tonnes still had no designated destination, pending allocation.

Black Sea barley exports

In barley, a total of 87,000 tonnes were exported from Black Sea ports in the week under review, compared with 74,973 tonnes last week. Iran received 60,000 tonnes and Saudi Arabia 27,000 tonnes.

In addition, 27,500 tonnes of barley were currently being loaded for Algeria, while 50,000 tonnes of barley still had no designated destination.

Another 105,000 tonnes were currently en route. Israel was the confirmed importer, receiving 15,000 tonnes, while approximately 90,000 tonnes still had no designated destination, pending allocation.

Overall Russian wheat exports in July-August 2025 were projected to decline significantly compared with last year.

According to the Rusagrotrans analytical center, combined shipments over the two months may total 5.33 million tonnes, down by 37.5% year on year.

July exports amounted to 1.78 million tonnes (down by 36.4% year on year), while August volumes were forecast at 3.55 million tonnes (down by 37.2%).

SovEcon estimated July exports at 2 million tonnes (down by 48.7% year on year) and projected August shipments at 3-4 million tonnes (down by 33-41.7%).

IKAR reported similar figures: July shipments of about 1.8 million tonnes and an August forecast of as much as 3.5 million tonnes.

Analysts attributed the slowdown to reduced competitiveness of Russian wheat in global markets, caused by a strong rouble, higher production and logistics costs, and lower harvests in southern regions.

Market experts noted that exports could pick up in October when large volumes from the central regions and the Volga area become available. But most agreed that shipment levels would remain well below the record highs of previous years.

CME soybean futures plunge

Most grain prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell on Thursday August 14. The September soybean futures contract decreased by 16.50 cents per bushel (bu) to settle at $10.07 per bu, while the September corn futures contract increased by 1 cent per bu to close at $3.75 per bu.

Meanwhile, December soybean meal fell by $2.30 per short ton to $295 per ton, and September wheat dropped by 3.75 cents per bu to $5.03 per bu.Corn futures captured slight gains, as bearish pressure from the USDA’s latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report eased following another strong set of export sales data released earlier in the day.Soybean futures retreated steadily throughout the session, weighed down by technical selling and profit-taking that drove double-digit losses.Wheat futures also struggled to gain traction, with another round of technical selling resulting in moderate declines.

US wheat outlook

US wheat exports for the 2025/26 marketing year are now projected at 875 million bu, up by 25 million bu from the previous estimate and the highest level since the 2020/21 season.According to the USDA, the increase is driven by a strong pace of export sales and competitive pricing.Hard red winter (HRW) wheat exports are forecast at 300 million bu, with total commitments nearly double those of a year prior, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).Competitive pricing relative to other exporters has supported HRW sales to a broad range of destinations, most notably Nigeria, Mexico, Venezuela and Bangladesh.Export sales of soft red winter (SRW) and durum wheat are running slightly ahead of last year’s pace, and exports for both classes are expected to rise this marketing year.Meanwhile, hard red spring (HRS) and white wheat sales continue to trail last year’s levels and are forecast to decline year over year.

EU weekly wheat exports

The EU’s weekly wheat exports amounted to 271,450 tonnes in the week to Sunday August 10, according to the latest data from the European Commission.Total exports for the new marketing year (which began on July 1) to August 10 amount to 1.43 million tonnes, which represents a 56% decrease in exports year on year compared with 3.3 million tonnes of milling wheat exports in the same period in the previous marketing year.

Barley exports for the week totaled 60,134 tonnes, taking total barley exports in the new marketing year to 1.1 million tonnes — down by 4% from the 1.14 million tonnes exported in the same period in the previous marketing year.

Saudi Arabia remains the largest buyer of EU barley this season with 275,063 tonnes, followed by Jordan with 230,223 tonnes and Turkey with 95,706 tonnes.

Meanwhile, corn imports into the EU amounted to 184,725 tonnes in the week to Sunday, lifting cumulative imports in the new marketing year to 986,523 tonnes — a figure well below the 2.94 million tonnes imported during the same period last season.

Ukraine leads as the primary origin for corn into the EU with 313,474 tonnes of imports, while Brazil follows with 238,179 tonnes and Canada with 203,703 tonnes.

Export data for France is not complete since the beginning of calendar year 2024. Export data for Bulgaria and Ireland is not complete since the beginning of marketing year 2023/24.

Commission export data is sometimes incomplete and subject to revision as more data from member states is supplied.