The Ministry of Agriculture has set the rates of export customs duty on grain for the period from August 19 to August 25, 2026 inclusive. Wheat goes abroad at the rate of 721.1 rubles per ton against the current 326.6 rubles. The rate on corn is rising from 105 to 284 rubles per ton, an increase of almost 2.7 times. Barley maintains a zero rate.
The reason for the sharp jump in wheat lies in the calculation device. The indicative price for the new period is set at $231.2 per ton against $230 a week earlier. The movement of $ 1.2 looks insignificant, but the fee is considered as 70% of the difference between the base and indicative prices in ruble terms. The base price for wheat is 18 thousand rubles per ton, for barley and corn — 17,875 rubles. With this design, a small shift in the quotation results in a multiple change in the fee.
On the contrary, the indicative price for corn decreased from 224.5 to 222.1 dollars per ton. The price of barley increased from 190.9 to 193.5 dollars.
The floating duty mechanism has been in operation since June 2, 2021 and is known as the grain damper. His task is to keep grain on the domestic market at high world prices and return part of the withdrawn income to farmers through support measures.
For the exporter, the arithmetic is straightforward: an increase in the rate by 394.5 rubles per ton for the supply of 50,000 tons results in an additional 19.7 million rubles in costs. It will not be possible to transfer this amount entirely to a foreign buyer — the price is held by competition on the world market, the cost of freight and the ruble exchange rate. A significant part of the load usually goes down the chain, into the purchase prices from manufacturers.
Timing is a separate risk. The rates of 721.1 and 284 rubles are valid for exactly one week, starting on August 26, the calculation will begin anew. Long-term contracts have to be concluded with a variable customs load clause or with a price formula linked to the current rate at the date of the declaration. Planning ship shipments on the verge of changing the billing period becomes a separate task: the difference in one day of shipment changes the economy of the voyage.
