Commercial vessels  –including vessels which are part of the Black Sea grain deal — wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Russia could be ready for Black Sea grain deal talks, but no evidence yet: US

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. said Russia has to return to Black Sea deal to market fertilizer, make agriculture transactions

United Nations | Reuters – The United States has been told that Russia is prepared to return to talks on a deal that had allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain, but “we haven’t seen any evidence of that yet,” the U.S. envoy to the United Nations said on Tuesday. Russia quit the […] Read more

 (File photo: Reuters/Yoruk Isik)

Ukraine says Russia threatened civilian vessels in second week without grain deal

Ukraine has harvested 11.2 million tons of its 2023 grain crop

Kyiv | Reuters – A senior Ukrainian official accused Russia on Friday of threatening civilian vessels in the Black Sea, and urged the international community to condemn what he said were “the methods of terrorists”. Russia last week quit a U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukraine, a major global grain producer, to safely export its grain via […] Read more


Photo: Thinkstock

Prairie cash wheat: durum soars as red spring falls back

Steep increases following Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports were gone by mid-week

MarketsFarm – There were sharp increases in durum across Western Canada for the week ended July 27, while spring wheat incurred small to moderate declines. There were gains in Minneapolis spring wheat, while Kansas City and Chicago winter wheat contracts slipped back. At the beginning of the week there were steep increases for wheat as […] Read more

Photo: File/Allan Dawson

EU looks to cover transport costs for Ukraine grain exports by land

About 60 per cent of Ukraine's exports were shipped via solidarity lanes when the Black Sea deal was in operation

Brussels | Reuters – The European Union is ready to export almost all of Ukraine’s farm produce via “solidarity lanes” and help cover costs after Russia withdrew from a U.N.-backed Black Sea grain deal,  EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said on Tuesday. Solidarity lanes are rail and road transport connections through EU member states that […] Read more


A vessel is seen arriving at Odesa in southern Ukraine under the Black Sea Grain Initiative on April 12, 2023. (Photo: Yulii Zozulia/Nurphoto via Reuters Connect)

Russia attacks Ukraine’s vital Danube grain export route

Ukrainian foreign minister calls for global response to 'food terrorism'

Kyiv | Reuters – Russia destroyed Ukrainian grain warehouses on the Danube River in a drone attack on Monday, targeting a vital export route for Kyiv in an expanding air campaign that Moscow began last week after pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal. Last week’s attacks mostly struck the sea ports of Odesa […] Read more

File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

Russian diplomat accuses Ukraine of using Black Sea grain corridor for attacks

Russia says it's negotiating exports of food to countries most in need

Moscow | Reuters – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin on Friday accused Ukraine of using a grain export corridor in the Black Sea to launch “terrorist attacks” against Russian interests, including one this week on the Crimean Bridge. Vershinin was addressing a briefing about Russia’s decision on Monday to quit the year-old Black Sea […] Read more


A seaport grain terminal damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes in Odesa region, Ukraine on July 19, 2023. (Photo: Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry via Facebook/Handout via Reuters)

Russia delivers Black Sea warning as Ukraine decries ‘hellish’ grain port attacks

Russian missiles strike Odesa for second night in a row

Kyiv | Reuters — Russia warned that from Thursday any ships sailing to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports would be seen as potentially carrying military cargoes, as Kyiv accused Moscow of carrying out “hellish” overnight strikes that damaged grain export infrastructure. Russia attacked the Odesa region for the second consecutive night after quitting on Monday a […] Read more

The Chicago Board of Trade building on May 28, 2018. (Harmantasdc/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

US Grains: wheat futures end firmer amid Black Sea supply worries

Ukrainian officials said Russian air strikes damaged the port of Odesa

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures finished stronger on Tuesday after Ukrainian officials said Russian air strikes damaged infrastructure at the port of Odesa, a day after Moscow quit the Black Sea grain export deal. The strikes diminished some expectations that Russia may still renew the export deal, analysts said. Markets […] Read more


Liberia-flagged bulker K Sukret, carrying grain under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, waits for inspection in the southern anchorage of Istanbul on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Mehmet Emin Caliskan)

Insurers seen reviewing Black Sea ship cover after Russia quits deal

Last ship covered under deal left Sunday

London | Reuters — Insurers are reviewing whether to freeze cover for any ships willing to sail to Ukraine after Russia on Monday quit a UN-backed deal that allows the export of grain through a wartime Black Sea safe corridor, industry sources said. The agreement, brokered by Turkey last July, aimed to alleviate a global […] Read more

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (r) and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a joint statement in Kyiv on July 15, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko

Grain shipping deal can operate without Russia, Zelenskyy says

'Blackmail is not allowed for anyone'

Kyiv | Reuters — The Black Sea grain shipment deal must continue and could operate without Russian participation after Moscow’s withdrawal on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, was a food source for 400 million people. “Africa has the right to stability. Asia has the right to […] Read more