- Soaring food prices
Ukraine is a gigantic exporter of commodities like wheat, corn and sunflower oil but Russia’s invasion means all trade has stopped because ships cannot leave Black Sea ports.
That is already having a major impact, with the price of grain and oilseeds surging to record highs as traders worry about how long this disruption will last. “In the worst-case scenario, there’s going to be no export from this region for a couple of years,” said Oleg Nivievskyi, assistant professor at the Kyiv School of Economics.
Fears of famine
The two warring countries are cereal heavyweights, accounting for 29 percent of global wheat exports, and bread is a staple food in many of the poor countries they provide with food. As for Russia, nobody knows whether Moscow will want to keep exporting as much food as before or restrict flows, especially when its own hungry population is facing sanctions.Rising protectionism
But not everyone is listening. Hungary has slapped extra controls on grain exports, while claiming the move is not a fully fledged export ban, and it has drawn stern condemnation from the European Commission. Meanwhile, Turkey, Argentina and Serbia — plus Ukraine and Russia themselves — have also imposed, or threatened to impose, export bans.Green dreams dashed
The war in Ukraine could mean dialing back Europe’s big ambitions to make farming clean up its impact on the climate and the environment.
Less corn from Ukraine means less feed for Europe’s animals this year, and higher animal feed prices for Europe’s farmers, who are already struggling to make ends meet. A lot of that Ukrainian fodder traditionally comes via Black Sea ports that are now blocked.
- Sunflower shutdown
The EU imports half of Ukraine’s production of sunflower oil, which can be found in everything from baked, canned and pre-made foods, to spreads, sauces and soups. It is also widely used in confectionary products and is an ingredient that is difficult to replace in baby food.
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