PARIS: European wheat, maize and rapeseed rose on Wednesday after Moscow said it would consider Ukraine-bound ships as potential carriers of military cargo, extending an earlier rise fuelled by Russia’s strikes on Black Sea ports.
Front-month milling wheat September on Paris-based Euronext, closed 7.8% higher at 252.75 euros ($282.57) a tonne after hitting 256.50 euros in earlier trade, a price unseen since April 19.
On the maize market, front-month August was up 5.7% at 250.50 euros per tonne after hitting a more than three-month high of 251.00 earlier, while rapseed was up 5.6% at 500.50 euros per tonne after hitting a four-month high of 505.75 euros. US markets were also soaring with most traded wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade up nearly 8%.
Maize accounted for more than half of the grain and oilseeds exported through the Black Sea export corridor.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday it would consider all ships traveling to Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea as potential carriers of military cargoes from midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT on Wednesday), following the end of the Black Sea grain deal.
“The Russian ministry comments set markets on fire. It’s more than it can take,” a French trader said. “On Monday you had the expiry of the grain corridor; on Tuesday the strikes on Odesa, which continued overnight; and now this. What next?”
Traders also referred to the joint request of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia to the European Union to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports beyond a Sept. 15 deadline to avoid major market disruptions as supportive.
The central European states fear that the collapse of the grain corridor could lead to increased grain flows and bottlenecks in their countries.
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