Latvia, a member of the European Union and NATO, has emerged as one of the top five countries used to ship Russian grain this marketing season despite strained political ties, as Moscow redirects exports from the Azov and Black Sea basin to Baltic ports, Reuters reported, citing consultancy ProZerno. Some 431,700 metric tons of Russian grain were shipped via Latvia between July and October.
Russia has been reshaping its grain export routes after shipments through the Azov and Black Sea basin, its main export corridor, largely stalled in mid August. Deep water Baltic ports have become the main outlet, particularly for wheat: according to railway carrier and grain analyst Rusagrotrans, the Baltic route accounted for 65 percent of Russian grain exports in September. Exports move through both Russian Baltic ports and ports in the Baltic states, chiefly Latvia. Shipments via the Caspian Sea have also risen sharply, with most cargoes destined for Iran.
Iran remained the largest buyer of Russian grain in the period, importing 1.716 million tons, helped by strong purchases of barley and corn. Egypt imported 1.35 million tons, Azerbaijan 545,000 tons and Nigeria 420,900 tons, placing them among the five largest buyers of Russian grain this season.
The Latvian foreign ministry said Russian grain imports have been banned in Latvia since 2024 and that, while there is no transit ban in place yet, the government is working on one as either an EU or a national measure. Estonia has already banned the transit of Russian grain through its territory, and the Baltic states proposed earlier this month a European Union ban on Russian grain exports through the bloc. Wheat settled flat at 625.0 cents a bushel in the site market tables, down 5.37 percent on the week after an eight week fall, so the rerouting is a logistics and sanctions story, not a price story, for now.