War holds grain market in its grip

Speculators are eager to get their money’s worth and that leads to very volatile price developments. At the beginning of this week it will be all about falling prices again, after a significant jump up was made just last week. For delivery in May, Paris was 5.4% higher than the week before, at €381.25 per tonne. New crop went up even faster; with a plus of almost 8%, a level of € 350 per tonne came into view.

Opting for easy to grow crops

Despite the violence of war, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture reports that a start has been made with sowing the summer crops. It is noted that farmers are opting for easier-to-grow crops such as peas, barley and oats instead of maize and sunflowers. Moreover, for the time being, an area that is one third smaller than last year is taken into account due to the war.

Grain exports by rail

On the other hand, a start is also being made with the export of grains from Ukraine. However, the normal route through the Black Sea is out of the question, because the Russians are blocking that road. In order to be able to export the grain, attempts are being made with transport by train to the Danube, reports APK-Inform consultancy. Several thousand tons of maize have already been exported via the western route.

Grain exports were strong pre-invasion

According to Ukraine, 18.1 million tonnes of wheat had already been exported until just before the start of the war. This amount is almost a third higher than in the same period last year. Exports came to a standstill due to the Russian invasion.