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. pushes back against Russian demands linked to Ukraine grain deal

Russian food, fertilizer already carved out from sanctions, U.S. says

Reading Time: 2 minutes United Nations | Reuters — The United States pushed back on Russian demands that Western sanctions be eased before it allows Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports beyond mid-May, saying there were no restrictions on Russian agricultural products or fertilizer. Moscow’s demands include allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank to return to the SWIFT banking system and […] 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)

Ukraine Black Sea grain deal extended for at least 60 days

UN, Turkey not yet specifying extension's duration

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ankara/United Nations | Reuters — A deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain was renewed on Saturday for at least 60 days — half the intended period — after Russia warned any further extension beyond mid-May would depend on the removal of some Western sanctions. The pact was brokered with Russia and […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Chicago grains end week higher on export demand, Black Sea jitters

Soy pushed down for fifth consecutive week

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat and corn futures posted weekly gains for the first time in five weeks, ending stronger on Friday on high demand for U.S. corn exports and market jitters over the extension of a wartime Black Sea grain deal. Chicago Board of Trade May soft red winter wheat settled up 11-1/2 […] 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)

UN backs Turkey, Ukraine in call for 120-day grain deal rollover

Text of original deal calls for 120, UN says

Reading Time: 2 minutes United Nations | Reuters — The United Nations backed Turkey and Ukraine on Thursday by calling for a 120-day rollover of an agreement allowing the safe export of grain from several Ukrainian Black Sea ports after Russia said it would only extend the pact for 60 days. The pact is due to expire on Saturday. […] Read more


CBOT May 2023 soft red winter wheat with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn rally from multi-month lows

Ukraine corridor talks eyed

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat and corn futures rose on Tuesday, rebounding from multi-month lows set last week, as Wall Street equity markets turned higher and signs of fresh grain export demand emerged, analysts said. Uncertainty about talks to extend a wartime grain export corridor from Ukraine lent support. Soybean futures posted smaller advances […] Read more

A farm worker unloads Ukrainian-made fertilizer from a truck on April 5, 2022 to use on a wheat field near the village of Yakovlivka, outside Kharkiv, after it was hit by an aerial bombardment. (Photo: Reuters/Thomas Peter)

Ukraine faces lack of herbicides, pesticides for spring seeding

About a third of needed chemicals reported to be at hand

Reading Time: < 1 minute Kyiv | Reuters — Ukrainian farmers, which have already started the 2023 spring sowing, have only around 35 per cent of the herbicides and pesticides they need, analyst APK-Inform quoted on Monday official data as showed. The Russian invasion has left Ukraine seriously short of finances, seeds and crop protection products, which could have a […] 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)

Russia suggests renewing Black Sea grain deal for shorter term

Moscow says sanctions have created barriers for its exports

Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — Moscow is suggesting to renew a deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports — but only for a period of 60 days, half the term of the previous renewal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said on Monday. Vershinin’s statement came after talks with U.N. officials […] Read more

The USDA building in Washington, D.C. (Art Wager/iStock/Getty Images)

USDA sees increased EU canola imports, no extra from Canada

U.S. also projects higher Canadian ending stocks

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The European Union will likely import more canola (rapeseed) this year than earlier thought, but any increased movement should come from Australia or Ukraine rather than Canada, according to updated projections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA raised its forecast for European rapeseed imports during the 2022-23 marketing year by 550,000 tonnes, […] Read more


A wall in the medina (ancient city quarter) of Rabat, Morocco’s capital. (Cia.gov)

Morocco adjusts wheat import scheme in nod to Black Sea

Move could bump up competition among exporters

Reading Time: 2 minutes Rabat/Paris | Reuters — Morocco, a major cereal importer, has modified its wheat import subsidy scheme to make it easier for companies to bring in cargoes from the Black Sea region, an official at state grain agency ONICL said on Wednesday. The revision, also reported by traders, means that as of March importers are able […] Read more

An ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer plant in Russia. (Saoirse_2010/iStock/Getty Images)

Russia, U.S. bicker at UN over donating fertilizer to Syria

U.S. calls for Russia to distribute via UN

Reading Time: 2 minutes United Nations | Reuters — Russia and the United States bickered on Tuesday over whether Russian fertilizer could be donated to Syria as Moscow heightens complaints about obstacles to its fertilizer shipments before the renewal of a deal allowing Ukraine Black Sea grain exports. Some 260,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizer has been stuck in several […] Read more