A file photo of cargo ships and harbour cranes in the Ukrainian port of Kherson on the Dnieper River. (Ioanna_alexa/iStock/Getty Images)

Ukraine shuts ports as conflict threatens grain supplies

Moscow/Kyiv | Reuters — Ukraine’s military has suspended commercial shipping at its ports after Russian forces invaded the country, an adviser to the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff said, stoking fear of supply disruption from leading grain and oilseeds exporters. Russia earlier ordered the Azov Sea closed to the movement of commercial vessels until further

File photo of Canpotex potash cars. (Dave Bedard photo)

Nutrien eyes potash production boost amid turmoil in Russia, Belarus

Idled Saskatchewan mines could be restarted

Winnipeg | Reuters — Nutrien, the world’s biggest potash miner, could boost production by up to 29 per cent in coming years, depending on any sanctions facing rival producers in Russia and Belarus, the Canadian company’s interim CEO told Reuters. Prices of granular potash fertilizer are near 10-year highs in the United States and Brazil,


Potash prices in China, the world’s largest consumer, are also high despite the recent release of some of that country’s potash reserve.

Potash importers brace for prolonged price rally after sanctions on Belarus

Prices are already at a 13-year high and U.S. sanctions will likely fuel further rises

Reuters – Global potash prices are set for an extended rally after the United States imposed sanctions on major supplier Belarus Potash Company (BPC), piling more pressure on farmers and consumers already facing rocketing costs and a global economy navigating rising food inflation. Prices were already at 13-year highs before the U.S. move on Dec.

Russia to plant less winter wheat for 2022 crop

Russian farmers are expected to sow less winter wheat this autumn than record levels seen a year ago due to unfavourable weather conditions, a switch to oilseeds in some regions and concerns about the country’s grain export tax, analysts said. Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter to Africa, the Middle East and other regions.


An employee loads wheat near a grain store in the settlement of Raduga in Stavropol Region, Russia June 30, 2021.

Putin’s drive to tame food prices threatens grain sector

The move to address domestic concerns could make a key competitor less competitive

During a televised session with ordinary Russians in late June, a woman pressed President Vladimir Putin on high food prices. Valentina Sleptsova challenged the president on why bananas from Ecuador are now cheaper in Russia than domestically produced carrots and asked how her mother can survive on a “subsistence wage” with the cost of staples

Grain storage at a Russian seaport. (Pridannikov/iStock/Getty Images)

Tax, competition expected to prolong Russian wheat export season

Tax complicates forward sales for exporters

Moscow | Reuters — Exports of Russian wheat will stretch well into the second half of the season as Moscow’s export tax and tough competition with Ukraine and Romania slow sales until the end of 2021, traders and analysts said. Russia, the world’s largest exporter of wheat, generally sells most of its crop during the


Bulk wheat being loaded on a ship in a Russian port. (YGrek/iStock/Getty Images)

Russia will suspend grain exports for six weeks if quota runs out mid-May

Several supplies to Egypt might be affected, traders say

Moscow | Reuters — Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, will suspend grain exports until July 1 once its export quota is exhausted, which is currently expected to happen in mid-May, its deputy agriculture minister Oksana Lut said on Friday. Russia last fully banned wheat exports in 2010 when drought hit its harvest, rocking global

File photo of wheat being loaded onto a bulk vessel at port in Russia. (YGrek/iStock/Getty Images)

Russian agricultural firms raided over suspected tax evasion

Moscow | Reuters — Meat producer Cherkizovo and farming conglomerate Rusagro were among agricultural firms across Russia targeted in a sweeping investigation into suspected tax evasion on Wednesday. The Tax Service said so far five potential breaches had been uncovered in inspections carried out with the Federal Security Service (FSB) at agricultural holdings across 13