Pyotr Kozlov

The Kremlin is pushing wheat exporters and growers to maintain Russia’s geopolitical advantage as the top shipper of the grain, despite disruptions to ports in the Black Sea region.

Some Russian farmers plan to plant less winter wheat as flows from the country’s crucial Black Sea ports remain stalled, creating a domestic glut and setting the stage for a smaller 2027 harvest from the world’s top shipper.

As the world focuses on the oil market, the war in Ukraine is snarling vital grain shipments and forcing buyers to scramble for supplies from elsewhere.

Tue Vuong had secured four cargoes of wheat harvested from fertile lands around the Black Sea, roughly a fifth of what his milling company 5,000 miles away in Vietnam uses annually.

Tue Vuong had secured four cargoes of wheat harvested from fertile lands around the Black Sea, roughly a fifth of what his milling company 5,000 miles away in Vietnam uses annually.

Russia is responding to Ukraine’s Black Sea attacks by seeking to reroute its grain exports, but so far the efforts are falling short — only about 1/10th of the volumes are being shipped through the key alternative ports, data show.

A global spike in diesel prices comes just as crops get planted or harvested.

Russia’s grain industry is looking to increasingly niche solutions for shipping wheat as attacks in the Black Sea continue to choke off exports from the world’s biggest supplier.

Wheat futures erased the Black Sea risk premium that had built since Russia and Ukraine escalated attacks in early July, after a report that Moscow is considering proposals to secure grain shipments through the region.

Russian authorities have allowed grain vessels to depart from the Azov Sea for the first time since July, raising hopes for the reopening of a crucial export route for the world’s top wheat supplier.