Stuffed Russian Grain Ports Show Risk of Black Sea Escalation
- Terminals face storage headaches despite record shipments
- Worsening Black Sea tensions could have knock-on impact
Grain is loaded aboard a cargo ship at Azov Sea Port, near Rostov-On-Don, Russia.
Source: AFP/Getty Images
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Russian grain ports are overflowing after two big harvests. That means any military escalation in the crucial Black Sea risks depriving the world of huge amounts of crops it’s counting on.
Port capacity is being stretched as the wheat giant struggles to clear the volumes despite massive exports. Russia shipped 4.4 million tons of wheat in July, a record for the month and almost 60% above average, according to consultant SovEcon.