Trade

Reuters writers Pavel Polityuk, Olena Harmash and Michelle Nichols reported on Saturday that, “Two cargo vessels arrived in Ukraine on Saturday, Ukrainian port authorities said, the first ships to use a temporary corridor to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets.”

Wall Street Journal writers Thomas Grove and Laurence Norman reported in Saturday’s paper that, “Russia’s blockage of Ukrainian food exports has become a painful political issue next door in the European Union, where Brussels decided Friday to end EU restrictions on Ukrainian grain purchases but the bloc’s eastern flank immediately rejected the decision.”

U.S. Hard Red Winter (HRW) exports are forecast down 10 million bushels this month to 155 million bushels, the lowest since records started in 1973/74.”

Reuters writers Jonathan Saul and Carolyn Cohn reported today that, “Lloyd’s of London is in talks with the United Nations over providing insurance cover for Ukrainian grain shipments if a new Black Sea corridor deal can be reached, its CEO John Neal told Reuters on Thursday.”

Last week, the USDA released its Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade, a quarterly report from the Department’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Economic Research Service (ERS).  Today’s update includes highlights from the report, which was prepared by Bart Kenner, Hui Jiang, Dylan Russell, and James Kaufman.

Financial Times writers John Paul Rathbone and Roman Olearchyk reported on Sunday that, “Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine’s southern Odesa port region in the early hours of Sunday, a day before the Turkish and Russian presidents were due to hold talks about restarting the export of grain via the Black Sea.”

Bloomberg writers Michael Hirtzer and Dominic Carey reported today that, “For more than half a century, US farmers dominated the international market for corn, shipping more of the critical crop than any other country to feed the world’s livestock, fill its stockpiles and manufacture its processed foods.”

Reuters writer Dan Peleschuk reported yesterday that, “A vessel carrying steel products to Africa has left Ukraine’s Odesa port through a temporary Black Sea corridor, the second ship to do so since Russia withdrew last month from a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed for grain to be safely exported, a senior Ukrainian government official said on Sunday.”

Alistair MacDonald and Oksana Pyrozhok reported on Saturday at The Wall Street Journal Online that, “As Russia squeezes Ukraine’s ability to export its huge grain harvests, it is farmers like Valery Kolosha who are counting the cost.”

Reuters writer Pavel Polityuk reported today that, “Russia targeted Ukrainian ports in the southern Odesa region and the Danube River area in overnight drone attacks, setting at least one grain storage facility on fire, Ukraine’s military and local authorities said on Wednesday.”

Over the weekend, Bloomberg writers Aine Quinn and Olesia Safronova reported that, “The Kremlin’s efforts to paralyze Ukrainian food shipments are succeeding, with a third of the country’s crop exports wiped out since its Black Sea ports were effectively blocked last month.”

Reuters writer David Lawder reported yesterday that, “The United States on Thursday escalated its objections to Mexico’s curbs on genetically modified corn imports, requesting a dispute settlement panel under the North American trade pact, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said.”

In its monthly Wheat Outlook report earlier this week, the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) indicated that, “U.S. all-wheat exports are lowered 25 million bushels to 700 million bushels, the lowest since 1971/72.”

Reuters writer Pavel Polityuk reported today that, “Russian drone strikes damaged grain silos and warehouses at the Ukrainian river port of Reni on the Danube, a vital wartime route for Ukrainian food exports, senior officials said on Wednesday.”

Earlier this week, Financial Times writer Sun Yu reported that, “In the western Chinese city of Chengdu, once popular hotpot restaurant Star Shining in the Clouds has closed its doors for the last time, one of several businesses to shut as the government tries to increase the amount of land under cultivation.”

Reuters writer Guy Faulconbridge reported yesterday that, “A Russian warship on Sunday fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea as it made its way northwards, the first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark UN-brokered grain deal last month.”

In its monthly Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade report on Friday, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) indicated that, “This month, USDA raised 2022/23 (Oct-Sep) China soybean imports to a new record of 100.0 million tons.”

Jared Malsin and Anastasiia Malenko reported in today’s Wall Street Journal that, “Ukraine said it was opening temporary routes for civilian ships to sail from its Black Sea ports in a potential challenge to Russia’s attempt to blockade the country’s globally important food exports.”

Bloomberg writer Hallie Gu reported today that, “China’s northeastern grain basket is bracing for more rains and flooding brought on by Typhoon Khanun, as producers struggle to recover from the impact of an earlier storm that ravaged farmland and destroyed crops.”

Financial Times writer Gloria Li reported today that, “Wheat prices climbed on Monday after Ukraine’s drone strikes against a Russian naval vessel and oil tanker over the weekend raised concerns over the potential impact on supply from the world’s largest exporter.”