Cargill Inc., the world’s leading soft commodities trader, has started exporting crops from this year’s crop to war-torn Ukraine, a move that could help drive down global food prices further.
The momentum has been flowing since Russia agreed to renew an agreement to keep export corridors open, Chief Executive Officer David MacLennan said in an interview. The extra shipments are helping lower global food costs, which rose to a record high in March after the Russian invasion of Ukraine choked off supplies from a key producer.
“We’re getting new crops,” MacLennan, who is stepping down at the end of the year, said at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. “The harvest is declining but the good news is that the produce is moving. This is one of the bread baskets in the world. We must have him.”
Ukraine has shipped around 12.6 million tonnes of grain through the Black Sea since the United Nations-brokered deal was struck in late July, giving the country’s economy a lifeline in the midst of war. The deal, which was extended for a further 120 days in mid-November, helped push global food prices to a nine-month low in October.
Still, the pact requires all cargo to be inspected by teams in Turkey before and after transit through Ukrainian ports, and exports have recently been slowed by a sluggish pace of inspections. Dockers are also facing hardships, including power outages and the need to work nights, MacLennan said.
“The challenge is the working conditions for the dock workers and the entire infrastructure that is needed to transport the harvest,” he said.
Shipments ranging from wheat to corn and sunflower seeds are smaller this year, with Ukraine’s harvest expected to be 60 to 70 percent compared to previous years, he said. The company added that it no longer controls two of its sunflower pressing plants in the country.
Slowdown in ship inspections hits Ukraine’s crop exports after contract renewal
In Russia, Cargill said it was withdrawing some non-essential business but stood by its decision to continue operations because the country is key to feeding the world.
“There were a lot of voices early on that everyone should get out of Russia,” he said. “Our goal is to feed people. We didn’t agree with that. We make food. We feed the people of Russia, and that food also feeds the people of the Middle East and Africa.”
Bloomberg
https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/news/farming-news/cargill-starts-shipping-2022-harvest-from-war-torn-ukraine-42190592.html Cargill begins shipping 2022 crop from war-torn Ukraine
