2023-07-23 07:31:11
A few days ago, the news broke that Russia did not extend its participation in the agreement on grain deliveries to Ukraine. This now one-year agreement was concluded in July 2022 and, according to the plans, its extension was negotiated every four months. So far, it has been extended three times, but the last two extensions were only for two months because, according to Russia, its demands were not met. Now they have canceled their participation with reference to this, as one of their main demands, that their agricultural bank be returned to the SWIFT system, has not been fulfilled. This may be the effect of the termination of the agreement on the sea transportation of Ukrainian grain exports. The effects are difficult to estimate at the moment, but it is likely that food prices will rise again. However, it is also a fact that in terms of food, the situation in the world is no longer as volatile as it was a year ago. In some countries, grain production has increased significantly, which offsets the loss of Ukrainian grain deliveries – for example, in the case of Argentina, Brazil and several European countries. Of course, this does not mean that the current decision has no effect on the food safety of some countries. According to European Union data, 51% of the grain delivered under the Ukrainian-Russian grain agreement is corn, 27% wheat, 11% sunflower, and the rest other. 65% of the wheat was transported to developing countries, in the case of corn, about half of the amount reached developing countries. If we look at the country-specific statistics, it can be seen that between August 2022 and July 2023, most of the Ukrainian agricultural products delivered under the Russian-Ukrainian agreement went to China, amounting to around 8 million tons. Spain and Turkey are also high on the list, but Egypt, Bangladesh and the Netherlands received a larger amount. 20% of total Ukrainian grain exports went to poor, low-income countries. Of course, the question of how much grain has gone from Ukraine to which country since the beginning of the war is not the only way to approach it. Also from the point of view of how much of the country’s grain imports are accounted for by Ukrainian transport. Egypt or Sudan is in a particularly bad situation, since nearly 80% of their wheat imports came from the Ukrainians, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Somalia also obtained around 60-70% of their wheat from the Ukrainians. We should definitely add that for Russia, however, withdrawing from the agreement will be particularly beneficial. Wheat brought a very good season in the vast country and it was able to significantly increase its exports. The main destination countries for Russian wheat are Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Nigeria, so the figures shown in the above picture should be interpreted as joint exports.
1690162009
#countries #suffer #due #lack #grain #deliveries #Ukraine