Wheat Sustains Highest Price Since 2008 on Fears of Grain Flows
- War in Ukraine has thrown Black Sea grain supplies into chaos
- Fighting also threatens crop planting and harvesting this year
A stockpile of wheat in a warehouse.
Photographer: Carla Gottgens/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Wheat futures extended their meteoric rally, soaring past $11 a bushel to the highest level in 14 years, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brings shipments from one of the world’s biggest growing areas to a virtual standstill.
The war and the implications of sweeping U.S. and European sanctions on Russia have upended Black Sea supplies at a time when global stockpiles are already tight. Ukraine and Russia ship more than a quarter of the world’s wheat exports, and the fighting has closed ports, halted transport and severed logistics. The war also threatens planting this year in Ukraine as farmers could be involved in the fighting, and seeds and fertilizer will be in short supply.