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Russia has attacked one of Ukraine's river ports on the Danube River, increasing the risks facing Kiev's last major grain export route and the global food trade.
An overnight drone strike ruined a grain hangar at a Danube port, Ukraine's southern operational military command said on Facebook. He did not specify which door was hit or provide further details about the damage.
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It is the latest in a series of measures by Russia to impede Ukrainian exports, which have historically made an important contribution to the global food supply. The collapse of the Black Sea grain deal last week, which allowed Ukraine to ship by sea, and subsequent Russian attacks on the port of Odesa have fueled expectations that Ukraine will have to double down on alternative routes – the most obvious being the river Danube.
The volume of crops transported by river reached 2.2 million tons in May, an increase of almost 900 thousand tons compared to the end of last year. These shipments even surpassed exports through the Black Sea corridor in May, due to inspections that delayed the departure of cargo ships.
Wheat in Chicago rose as much as 6.9% on Monday, extending gains of more than 5% last week. Russia also launched a new missile barrage against Odesa over the weekend, the biggest in a series of near-daily attacks on the Black Sea port city after Moscow pulled out of the grain deal.
Ukraine has the main ports of Reni and Izmail on the Danube, on the border with Romania. Local merchants, including Nibulon and Kernel, were expanding capacity there in response to Russia's maritime blockade. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment.
“These ports are the biggest hope for Ukraine to export its grains and oilseeds,” said Rabobank analyst Carlos Mera. “We believe that Ukraine could export up to 2.5 million tons of grains and oilseeds per month through these ports. This would be enough to export most of its exportable surplus. But at the moment it is unclear how much damage has been done and whether Russia will carry out frequent attacks in the future.”
Russia is trying to “make it difficult” for Ukraine to export grain across the Danube, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi told Bloomberg TV in an interview last week.
Source: Notícias Agrícolas
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