War Forces Grain and Oil to Travel Record Distances, UN Says

Buyers are shipping grains and oil from further and further away after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted traditional trade routes.

Shipments of grain traveled longer distances in 2023 than any other year on record as importers switched to buying from other countries after Ukraine’s exports were blocked, according to a review of maritime transport from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, or UNCTAD. Oil cargoes also traveled the furthest since at least 1999, as Russia looked for new export markets.