Russian grain ports are overflowing after two big harvests, reports Bloomberg.
Russia shipped 4.4 million tons of wheat in July, a record for the month and almost 60% above average, according to the latest SovEcon report.
Some terminals on the Azov Sea stopped accepting grain due to lack of storage capacity, SovEcon said. Farmers in the Black Sea region, in both Ukraine and Russia, have nowhere to send their harvests.
Ukraine creates "humanitarian corridor"
In related news, Ukraine announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release cargo ships trapped in its ports since the outbreak of war, reported Reuters.
The corridor would apply to vessels, including container ships that have been stuck in Ukrainian ports since the February 2022 invasion, and were not covered by the Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement that opened the ports for grain shipments last year. Around 60 commercial ships have been left to linger since the invasion.
After Russia left the grain deal in mid-July, it has imposed a de facto blockade on the sea route. Shipping and insurance sources expressed concerns about safety. Several global grain companies, including Cargill, ADM and LDC have stopped all aspects of grain deals including transport in the region.
Black Sea tensions continue to escalate
Russia has said it will treat any ships approaching Ukrainian ports as potential military vessels, and their flag countries as combatants on the Ukrainian side.
It was reported on August 13 that a Russian warship fired warning shots and boarded a cargo ship it claims was headed to Ukraine in the Black Sea. The ship was flying a Pauau flag.
Under the proposed "humanitarian corridor," ships would display cameras and there would be a broadcast to show the vessel is on a humanitarian mission with no military purpose. There was no response from Russia to the announcement, said Reuters.
Moscow says it will return to the grain deal only if it receives better terms for its own exports of food and fertilizer. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, co-sponsor of the grain deal alongside the UN, told Reuters he hopes to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to rejoin it at talks this month.
Ukraine's grain exports have totaled 2.98 million metric tons so far in the 2023/24 July-June season, Agriculture Ministry data showed on Friday.
The ministry gave no comparative figures for the same date a year earlier but said the shipments were at 2.34 million tons as of August 12, 2022.
