Saturday, March 25, 2023
HomeFoodRussia Wheat Exports Nearly Double What They Were Before War

Subscribe

To our FREE newsletter
Get all the latest maritime news delivered straight to your inbox.

Russia Wheat Exports Nearly Double What They Were Before War

After a slow start to the season, Russia’s grain exports are booming as buyers load up on its attractive bumper supplies.

The country’s shipments of wheat — its main crop — almost doubled in January and February from a year earlier, Logistic OS data show. Buyers shunned cargoes earlier in the season when prices weren’t as appealing, but are now returning as last year’s massive harvest helps Russian grain to rank among the cheapest globally.

The recent boom shows shippers have overcome some of the financing and insurance problems fueled by sanctions on Russia. The outlook for exports from the Black Sea is also coming into sharper focus as a deal allowing Ukrainian cargoes to sail through a safe corridor comes up for renewal in about two weeks. Supplies from both nations are helping to stop global food inflation worsening.

Ukraine, whose exports are far behind last season, wants to extend the grain deal by at least a year. Russia says it can only be prolonged if its agricultural firms’ interests are taken into account.

There’s currently plenty of demand for Russian grain. Its seaborne wheat shipments in January and February totaled 6.1 million tons, about 90% more than the year-earlier period, according to ship lineups from Logistic OS.

Wheat futures have fallen to the lowest in at least a year in Chicago and Paris, and the big Russian volumes could cap prices for the rest of this season, according to Rabobank. The market generally expects the deal that runs until March 18 to be renewed successfully, it said.

Food hasn’t been included as part of sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, but restrictions on banks and state companies have made trade more complicated. Though hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian fertilizer remain frozen in European ports, exporters have been able to ship out huge amounts of grain.

The recent strong exports are also due to sales booked later than usual toward the end of 2022, when Russian wheat regained its competitive edge, said Andrey Sizov, managing director of consultant SovEcon.

“The start of the campaign was slow, taking into account the bumper crop and the huge supply,” Sizov said. Russia has shipped 29.5 million tons of wheat so far this season, compared with 26.7 million tons a year earlier, he estimates.

While Ukraine’s volumes remain significant, they’re below peaks set late last year. The amount carried out of the Black Sea in February totaled 3.35 million tons and the number of vessels cleared for inspection — a part of the deal — fell for a fourth month.

Kyiv has blamed a slowdown in its exports since late last year on sluggish work by Russian ship inspectors, who are one of the parties tasked with checking all vessels sailing under the deal. 

Including routes like road and rail, Ukrainian volumes for the season are running behind last year’s pace by about a quarter.

[Bloomberg]

Related Posts

Video

Finance & Economy
Shipping News
Ports

Eva Birgitte Bisgaard steps down as chief commercial officer at Maersk Tankers

Eva Birgitte Bisgaard is stepping down from her role as chief commercial officer at Maersk Tankers. Christian M. Ingerslev, chief executive officer of Maersk Tankers,...

Frontline’s Fredriksen appointed to Euronav supervisory board

Belgium’s Euronav said its shareholders had overwhelmingly voted to elect John Fredriksen of peer Frontline, a major investor that pulled out of a merger...

UBS Likely to Shrink Credit Suisse’s $10 Billion Shipping Portfolio – Report

UBS Group AG will likely shrink Credit Suisse Group’s $10 billion shipping portfolio that it inherited as part of its emergency takeover on Sunday,...

Braemar: Record revenue & profitability

Braemar Plc., a provider of expert investment, chartering, and risk management advice to the shipping and energy markets, announced an update on trading...

Oldendorff Carriers announces change of leadership

Effective today, the board of OLDENDORFF CARRIERS has appointed Patrick Hutchins as the new President and CEO of the company. Patrick succeeds Peter Twiss, who...

Global Goods Trade Softening from 2022’s Record Level

International commerce soared to a record of $32 trillion in 2022, but goods trade...

New Hybrid Ferry ‘P&O Pioneer’ Docks At DP World Limassol For Bunkering

P&O Ferries’ newly commissioned Fusion Class vessel ‘P&O Pioneer’ has docked at DP World...

Baltic index gains as capesize rates rebound

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk...

Minerva puts cost of fuel theft as high as $5.2 bil/year

The bunkering industry is losing as much $5.2 billion of fuel annually to quantity...

Baltic index logs worst day in five weeks on tepid demand for larger vessels

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk...

Drewry: Port Throughput Index Down 4.5% Year-on-Year

The Drewry Container Port Throughput Indices are a series of calendar adjusted volume growth/decline indices based on monthly throughput data for a sample of...

Port of Los Angeles moves 487,846 container units in February

The Port of Los Angeles processed 487,846 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in February, a 43% decrease from the previous February’s all-time record. “February declines were...

Piraeus Port Authority: Strong growth in 2022

PPA S.A. announced Full Year 2022 financial results, marking a consecutive year of growth with a turnover of €194.6 million compared to €154.2 million...

WLP welcomes 14 strategic Vietnamese partners to its growing network of international traders

World Logistics Passport (WLP), a Dubai-led global initiative designed to smooth the flow of world trade, has welcomed 14 Vietnamese partners to its global...

Port of Hedland February Iron Ore Exports 2% Down

Pilbara Ports Authority has delivered a total monthly throughput of 54.8 million tonnes (Mt) for February 2023. This throughput was a five per cent increase...