LONDON (Reuters) – Ukraine on Monday reaffirmed its hope of resuming grain exports from the Black Sea this week under a UN-brokered deal, despite a Russian missile fire at the Ukrainian port of Odessa over the weekend.
Senior Ukrainian government officials told a news conference on Monday they hoped the first shipment of grain under the deal would be made from the port of Chornomorsk this week and shipments could be made from all ports included in the agreement within two weeks.
Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey on Friday signed an agreement to reopen three Ukrainian Black Sea ports. The agreement is valid for 120 days and targets monthly exports of 5 million tonnes.
Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said there was no limit to the amount of grain that can be exported under Friday’s deal, which also allows the export and import of grain. fertilizer.
“We believe that in the next 24 hours we will be ready to work to resume exports from our ports. We are talking about the port of Chornomorsk, it will be the first, then there will be Odessa, then the port of Pivdeny,” said Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yuriy Vasyukov.
For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters that Russia had targeted military infrastructure in Odessa.
Wheat futures on the Chicago Stock Exchange, which had risen nearly 4% to 7.86 dollars (7.69 euros) a bushel on Monday morning, fell back partially after these statements.
In Paris, the milling wheat contract listed on Euronext was trading up 1.2% after soaring 2.6% at the opening.
Some operators remained skeptical about the possibility of exporting cereals via the Black Sea.
“A restart of Ukrainian exports will not only require a safe shipping channel, but also safe ports. The Russians cast doubt on port security as soon as the ink on the maritime transport agreement was dry. doubt is again present,” said a European trader.
“Besides the uncertainty of the time needed to clear the mines (from the Black Sea), shipowners simply will not go to Ukraine, regardless of the freight rate, if they think their ship will be hit by missiles” said another European grain trader.
(Reporting Max Hunder, Pavel Polityuk, Nigel Hunt, Naveen Thukral in Singapore, Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; French version Augustin Turpin, editing by Sophie Louet)