Major crop buyers across Asia are turning to alternative suppliers as attacks escalate in the Black Sea, crimping exports from the breadbasket region at a vital point in the season.
Ukraine and Russia have both stepped up attacks on each other’s ports and infrastructure in recent weeks. Ukraine’s grain exports in the first part of August slumped 75% from a year earlier, and Russian shipments this month are expected to be less than half the five-year average.
The region is one of the world’s top suppliers of grain and sunflower oil, much of which heads to Asia, Africa and the rest of Europe. With the shipping crisis deepening just as harvests roll in, importers are becoming increasingly uneasy. Higher prices from other origins are keeping some on the sidelines, but there are signs that several Asian buyers are starting to turn elsewhere for supply.
