We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry.
We focus on grains and food industry. current time
Black Sea Wheat Slumps as Demand Dries Up, Not Supply
Wheat prices out of the Black Sea region have slid to their weakest point since June 2025, with the Platts benchmark for September shipments dropping to $225.5 per tonne FOB. Surprisingly, this decline is unfolding not because of the region’s deepening security crisis, but largely due to a lack of buying interest in the global market.
Port activity across Ukraine and Russia has thinned out considerably in recent weeks, following a string of attacks targeting shipping infrastructure and vessels. Traders report that FOB purchase enquiries have all but disappeared, with ship operators increasingly wary of docking at Ukrainian or Russian terminals given the heightened risk. While some cargo is being rerouted through alternate paths, these workarounds fall far short of replacing the volumes that used to move through conventional export channels.
The timing couldn’t be tougher, with the new marketing season just getting underway. Even though the Black Sea region is sitting on a bumper wheat crop this year, exporters are struggling to move it out due to logistical bottlenecks, forcing many to slash their prices just to draw in buyers.
At Ukraine’s major deep-sea terminals Pivdennyi, Odesa and Chornomorsk FOB demand has essentially dried up. Some business has moved instead to the Danube ports of Izmail and Reni, though shallow water levels on the river are limiting how much cargo can be loaded there. Separately, wheat shipments to Egypt via smaller coaster vessels were fetching around $265 per tonne, with freight adding another $60 on top.
Demand from key buyer nations isn’t helping matters either. Turkey, riding a record domestic harvest, has scaled back its import needs barring high-protein varieties. Egypt’s wheat imports in July plunged nearly 58% year-on-year, weighed down by comfortable domestic reserves, Black Sea supply hiccups and steep shipping costs.
Romania and Bulgaria, meanwhile, are faring somewhat better their wheat commanded an average premium of nearly $22 per tonne over Ukrainian and Russian grain in July, thanks to steady tender business. Even so, quality concerns persist, with nearly half of this year’s harvest in these countries expected to fall short of milling standards and end up as feed-grade wheat instead.
Taken together, sluggish demand, costly freight and disrupted trade routes continue to drag down Black Sea wheat prices proving that in this case, it’s a shortage of buyers, not a shortage of grain, steering the market lower.
