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A dry bulk carrier loads Ukrainian grain in Odessa. (Photo: Shutterstock/VoldymyrT) Russia is threatening to pull the plug on the Black Sea Grain Initiative on May 18, blocking Ukrainian seaborne exports of corn and wheat. The European Union has banned Ukrainian agriculture exports to neighboring Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia until June 5, with an extension through year-end possible. The Tolyatti-Odessa pipeline, a key conduit for Russian exports of ammonia — a vital fertilizer feedstock — remains offline. CNBC recently warned that “the basic food security of tens of millions across the globe is hanging by a thread.” The United Nations stressed that the Black Sea Grain Initiative is “critical” and helps “stave off famine.” Prices of agricultural products and fertilizers spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Is the world headed for a new food-inflation crisis? Not this time, according to commodity price-reporting agency Argus. Global trade flows have evolved over the past 14 months, adjusting for the war risk. Ocean shipping has come to the rescue, plying new routes: from bulkers carrying wheat, corn, and fertilizers to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers loaded with ammonia to product tankers transporting sunflower oil. “Markets find a way,” said Mike […]
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