| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| ‘Breadbasket Of World’ Choked Off By Russian Invasion As Wheat Prices Soar |
| 2022-03-02 |
| [ZeroHedge] Ukraine and Russia are vital to the global food supply, accounting for more than a quarter of global wheat trade, about a fifth of corn, and 12% of all calories traded globally, according to Bloomberg. Reuters reports Ukrainian ports will remain closed until the Russian invasion ends and maritime security is restored for commercial ships. This means all shipments of farm goods from Ukraine have ceased, and commodity traders will have to search elsewhere. Activity at Ukrainian ports has been halted since Russia invaded its neighbor last week, and grains trade from Russia is also effectively on pause. Sanctions have been ratcheted up to further isolate commodity-rich Russia from global finance by sanctioning its central bank and cutting off various leaders from the critical SWIFT financial messaging system. "If the conflict is prolonged -- three months, four months from now -- I feel the consequences could be really serious," Andree Defois, president of consultant Strategie Grains, told Bloomberg. "Wheat will need to be rationed." Michael Magdovitz, a senior analyst at Rabobank, said Ukraine and Russia had increased harvests and exports in the last decade at a far lower cost than western farmers, which helped keep wheat prices low. However, that's not the case today as the Russian invasion sends wheat futures trading in Chicago to a six-year high. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #9 I know some farmers who are thinking about changing what they are growing over in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. Used to be that was the bread basket of the world. And it may just be so again. Same with petroleum. All we need is for the government to get out of the way except for keeping a cudgel handy for big corporations doing anticompetitive stuff. |
| Posted by: Chealing Chomotle4158 2022-03-02 21:00 |
| #8 Too much damage has probably already been done for Ukraine to have an actual normal wheat harvest. Plus all the tractors are busy towing Russian armor. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2022-03-02 20:57 |
| #7 Turkey and Egypt get 70 percent of their grain from Russia and Ukraine through the Black Sea. Does Biden think Turks and Egyptians will punish Russia by stopping grain imports? So they're kids can starve? As I already pointed out, Putin has pretty much fucked all those countries already by starting this war. Too much damage has probably already been done for Ukraine to have an actual normal wheat harvest. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2022-03-02 20:42 |
| #6 We had an article here the other day from Al Ahram: Egypt is already looking into alternate sources of wheat, with the warning that the price will be higher. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2022-03-02 13:07 |
| #5 Turkey and Egypt get 70 percent of their grain from Russia and Ukraine through the Black Sea. Does Biden think Turks and Egyptians will punish Russia by stopping grain imports? So they're kids can starve? And the rest of the world's poor nations will help Uncle Sam to push a billion people back into poverty with soaring food prices? Why would any nation do this? |
| Posted by: Lumpy B. Hayes7590 2022-03-02 09:50 |
| #4 ...now you know why Mr.Windows was buying farm land. See - farm subsidies. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-03-02 09:28 |
| #3 1. The US used to ship lots of wheat to Russia, some years back. 2. Long gone in the memory hole is news of farmers being paid to not cultivate some crops. 3. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, could temporarily allow more planting of wheat and corn. 4. Trade surpluses improve, farmers improve. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2022-03-02 09:26 |
| #2 so wheat toast dry choke sex costs more alert kungfu! |
| Posted by: Greng Black3494 2022-03-02 08:35 |
| #1 Wonder how many acres are going wheat this year in the US and Canada? Ooops, maybe not. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-03-02 07:48 |