Liberia-flagged bulker K Sukret, carrying grain under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, waits for inspection in the southern anchorage of Istanbul on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Mehmet Emin Caliskan)

Putin to meet Erdogan amid push to revive grain deal

Turkey, UN seek to revive grain deal; Russia discussing separate plan

Moscow | Reuters — Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan on Monday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as Ankara and the United Nations seek to revive a Ukraine grain export deal that helped ease a global food crisis. Russia quit the deal in July — a year after […] Read more

CBOT December 2023 soft red winter wheat with 20-day moving average, MGEX December 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. December 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat dips after earlier strength

Black Sea supplies weigh on market

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat prices reversed earlier gains to close lower on Friday, as markets weighed tight global stocks against the prospect of hefty Russian wheat production and efforts to renew a Black Sea grain deal. Chicago soybeans and corn also climbed after month-end positioning pushed futures lower much of the week and […] Read more


CBOT November 2023 soybeans with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans end month up on crop stress

Wheat down as global supplies weigh on U.S. prices

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybeans fell for a third consecutive session on Thursday, but ended the month higher as recent export activity and fears that dry weather damaged crops lent support. Wheat ended lower after trading both sides of even, pressured by plentiful global supplies. Corn ended the day and the month lower after […] Read more

Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus at Istanbul on Dec. 11, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Yoruk Isik)

Russia says will have talks with Turkey about alternative to Black Sea deal

Plan calls for Qatar's support to move Russian grain

Reuters — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan will discuss a proposal by Moscow for an alternative to the Black Sea grain deal when they meet this week, Lavrov’s ministry said Wednesday. Under the plan, Russia would send a million tons of grain to Turkey at a discounted price, with financial […] Read more


File photo of a small boat flying the Lebanese flag at a marina in Tripoli as a cargo vessel sails in the distance. (Joel Carillet/iStock/Getty Images)

Ukraine asks Lebanon to bar Syrian ship carrying ‘stolen’ corn

Corn taken from multiple storage units, Ukraine alleges

Beirut | Reuters — Ukrainian officials on Thursday asked Lebanon to bar a Syrian state-owned cargo ship carrying allegedly stolen Ukrainian grain from docking in Lebanon’s Tripoli port, according to the Ukrainian embassy and a diplomatic note seen by Reuters. The Ukrainian mission said in comments to Reuters that the Finikia was transporting 6,000 metric […] Read more

CBOT November 2023 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans up as heat risk in focus

Weak demand erodes corn, wheat

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures firmed for a second straight session on Thursday, supported by strong exports and supply uncertainty as hot, dry weather cast uncertainty over U.S. prospects. Corn inched down as the market assessed results from this week’s Pro Farmer crop tour. Wheat eased as traders weighed strong global supplies against […] Read more


(Omersukrugoksu/iStock/Getty Images)

Russia hits grain facilities at Ukrainian Danube River port

Some 13,000 tonnes of grain destroyed says Ukrainian deputy prime minister

Reuters – Russian drones struck Ukrainian grain facilities at the Danube River port of Izmail overnight in what a senior official said on Wednesday was a systematic attempt by Moscow to prevent Kyiv exporting grain to the world. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the port’s export capacity had been reduced by 15% and that […] Read more



Commercial vessels  –including vessels which are part of the Black Sea grain deal — wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

U.S. says working to identify alternative paths for Ukraine grain

Danube grain facilities attacked overnight

Washington | Reuters — The United States on Wednesday condemned Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure and said it was working with partners to identify alternative options to ensure Ukrainian grain exports. “The United States … calls for Russia to immediately return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel […] Read more

Chickpea curry. (Modesigns58/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Chickpea market neither bullish nor bearish

Market players awaiting harvest

MarketsFarm — Hot and dry growing conditions earlier in the growing season cut into Canada’s chickpea yields in 2023-24, but quality should be good if the weather co-operates through the harvest. Canadian farmers planted 315,600 acres of chickpeas in 2023, which was well above the 233,800 acres seeded the previous year, according to Statistics Canada […] Read more