French Floods Bring Surprise Gains to a Ukraine Wheat Field
- Wheat prices in the Black Sea supported by drop in French crop
- Romania, Bulgaria targeting France as yields at a 30-year low
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Ruslan Sokol has no idea why prices for wheat he grows on the vast flatlands of central Ukraine have started to recover from five-year lows. A thousand miles to the west, French farmer Stephane Jean knows all too well.
While both have suffered from a world grain surplus, their fortunes are now diverging. Floods have cut crop yields to a 30-year low in France, the European Union’s top producer. That’s opened the door for exporters in the Black Sea, where Russia is reaping a record harvest, bins are overflowing in Romania and Bulgaria, and Ukrainian farmers are collecting more than expected.