File photo of barley being loaded for export at the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, Ukraine on July 9, 2013. (Photo: Reuters/Vincent Mundy)

U.N. had ‘constructive’ talks in Moscow on Russian grain, fertilizer exports

U.S. could offer 'comfort letters' to shippers, insurers

United Nations | Reuters — A senior U.N. official had “constructive discussions” in Moscow with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports to global markets, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday. The U.N. official, Rebecca Grynspan, is now in Washington for talks on the same issue “with […] Read more

CBOT July 2022 wheat (candlesticks) with 20- and 50-day moving averages (blue and black lines) and MGEX and K.C. July 2022 wheats (yellow and orange lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat drops as Russia considers Ukrainian grain exports

Corn, soybeans also down

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures fell on Tuesday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed readiness to allow blocked Ukrainian grain vessels from Black Sea ports. Corn was pressured by falling wheat, while profit-taking pulled soybeans off life-of-contract highs to finish lower. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell […] Read more


Cargo ships are docked in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa on Nov. 4, 2016. (File photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

Kremlin says Putin ready to facilitate grain exports via Ukraine ports

Russia says will work with Turkey

London | Reuters — President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia was ready to facilitate the unhindered export of grain from Ukrainian ports in co-ordination with Turkey, according to a Kremlin readout of talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Besides the death and devastation sown by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war and the West’s […] Read more

CBOT July 2022 corn (candlesticks) with 20- and 50-day moving averages (yellow and orange lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soybean, wheat futures up ahead of holiday

Wheat gains as U.S. rejects easing sanctions

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures rose on Friday, supported by forecasts for rain that could slow the tail end of planting in the U.S. Midwest. Wheat futures also were higher, with traders exiting bearish positions ahead of the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend. U.S. markets will be closed […] Read more


Yara’s fertilizer terminal at Stockton, California. (Sebastian Braum photo, Yara.com)

Fertilizer maker Yara says world faces extreme food supply shock

Sanctions cut global fertilizer supply 15 per cent, company says

Davos, Switzerland | Reuters — Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara says donors urgently need to close the U.N.’s $10 billion food programme funding gap to avoid a catastrophe as sanctions on Russian fertilizers and Ukraine’s grain export problems have created an extreme global shock. “The world has realized that food can be a weapon and it […] Read more

CBOT July 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Rainy forecast pushes soy to three-month high

Wheat mixed, corn weak

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rallied 2.7 per cent to a three-month high on Thursday as the latest weather forecasts for key northern growing areas turned wet again, threatening to add further delays to planting that was already well behind schedule, traders said. Corn futures were weaker on pressure from disappointing export data […] Read more