Russia has resumed granting departure permits to grain ships in the Sea of Azov after a halt of more than three months. Permission to depart was granted on October 26 to vessels operating from the Russian commercial ports of Temryuk and Kavkaz, according to three sources familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg, and at least one vessel had passed through the Kerch Strait into the Black Sea by October 29. Ships with complete crews and preparations for transit can now apply for permission to leave port.
The route closed in July, when Russia suspended navigation through the Don to Azov canal and stopped processing Kerch Strait passage applications after a Ukrainian drone campaign targeted Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian officials said unmanned systems targeted 90 Russian vessels between July 6 and July 12, including tankers, tugboats, ferries and cargo ships, and that by August 8 drones had struck 218 shadow fleet vessels across the Azov and Black Sea. Those figures are Ukraine’s claims, carried here as claims. All three grain terminals at Novorossiysk, Russia’s leading Black Sea wheat export port, also suspended operations over the summer following drone strikes, and exporters shifted much of their grain to Baltic ports, Reuters reported. Russia’s Krasnodar region, its largest agricultural region, declared a state of emergency in September over difficulties exporting grain.
The resumption is not a full restoration. Vessels still face security risks in transit across the Black Sea, and the market’s first reaction reflected that caution. Bertrand Oesterle, a commodity broker and vice president at StoneX, told Bloomberg the initial reaction was brisk to the downside, but added that few market participants believed reopening the ports would significantly alter the risk outlook.
Wheat in the site market tables rose 0.66 percent to 607.8 cents a bushel on the day, down 2.76 percent on the week, a recovery from the 16 week low of 5.99 dollars a bushel touched on October 28 that separate reporting also linked to China’s first inquiry for US wheat since the September summit, covered in today’s wheat story.