March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.
The United Nations confirmed the extension of the deal allowing exports of grain, related foodstuffs and fertilizers from designated Ukrainian seaports.
"The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul on 22 July 2022, has been extended," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement.
On July 22, 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict, the Xinhua news agency reported. The deal, initially in effect for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days till March 18.
According to the Associated Press, the United Nations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan both announced the extension, but neither confirmed how long it would last.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agency Tass that Moscow "agreed to extend the deal for 60 days.”
Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on, AP reported.
Two ships carrying more than 96,000 metric tons of corn left Ukrainian ports on Saturday bound for China and Tunisia, according to U.N. data.
During the first two terms of the initiative, some 25 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have been moved to 45 countries, helping to bring down global food prices and stabilizing the markets, Xinhua quoted Dujarric as saying.
Meanwhile, AP reported that food prices have fallen for 11 straight months. But food was already expensive before the war because of droughts from the Americas to the Middle East — most devastating in the Horn of Africa, with thousands dying in Somalia. Poorer nations that depend on imported food priced in dollars are spending more as their currencies weaken.
Figures from financial data provider Refinitiv showed that Russian wheat exports more than doubled to 3.8 million tons in January from the same month a year ago, before the invasion. Russian wheat shipments were at or near record highs in November, December and January, increasing 24% over the same three months a year earlier, according to Refinitiv. It estimated Russia would export 44 million tons of wheat in 2022-2023.
