Category: Freight

EU Tightens Safeguards: European Parliament committee backs stricter and faster safeguard rules on Mercosur agricultural imports, lowering the trigger threshold to a 5% average rise over three years for sensitive products. Faster Investigations: Proposed timelines for safeguard probes are cut in half, to three months for standard and two months for sensitive products, with scope…

Export Surge: Processed grain exports from Bashkortostan rose 50% year-on-year to over 29,200 tons in the first 11 months of 2025. Flour-Led Growth: Flour dominated the export mix at 27,370 tons, with demand from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other markets. Quality Assurance: All 200,000 tons of inspected grain and processed products met international quarantine…

Zero Duties Extended: Russia will maintain zero export duties on wheat, barley, and corn for shipments from December 17–25, preserving export competitiveness. Mixed Price Action: Wheat and barley indicative prices rose week-over-week, while corn prices declined amid seasonal harvest pressure. Neutral to Slightly Bullish Tone: Stable demand for wheat and barley and continued duty-free exports…

Neutral to Bearish: Russian wheat exports fell 21.6% year-on-year in early December, with buyer countries shrinking to 14 from 32. Supportive Demand: Egypt and Turkey increased purchases, while Iran entered as a new buyer, underscoring resilient demand for Russian wheat. Concentration Risk: Export mix narrowed sharply to 7 commodity types, suggesting a focus on wheat…

Export Pace Improves: December grain shipments reached 1.137 million tons, up 15.5% year-on-year, signaling stronger logistics and export momentum. Overall Volumes Still Weak: Total 2025/26 MY grain exports at 13.521 million tons are down 30% from 19.359 million tons a year earlier. Wheat Dominates Mix: Wheat leads with 7.569 million tons exported, while corn reached…

Dedicated EU quota: Ukraine secures its first separate annual tariff quota of 30,000 tons for flour exports to the EU starting in 2025. High utilization likelihood: 2024 exports of ~26,000 tons to the EU suggest the 30,000-ton quota is likely to be fully used. Moderately bullish milling outlook: Regulatory certainty supports long-term planning and modestly…

Railcar movements toward Greater Odesa ports declined by 26 units/day to 9,360 units, with average daily loading falling by 112 railcars to 1,205 units. Danube ports recorded a sharper downturn, as weekly grain railcar flows dropped by 76 units to 194 railcars. Despite lower incoming volumes, daily grain railcar unloading rates at Greater Odesa and…

Bearish for volumes: Bashkortostan’s grain and oilseed exports fell by roughly 50% year-on-year, from 401,600 tons in 2024 to just over 200,000 tons in 2025. Neutral for quality: All export batches fully met EU, EAEU, and destination country phytosanitary standards with zero detections of quarantine organisms. Mildly bearish for freight: Lower interior Russian export flows…

Bullish: Kazakhstan’s 2026–2028 roadmap targets over $1 billion in annual fat and oil exports, backed by infrastructure and processing investment, while Siberian oilseed shipments surge 43%. Bearish: Russia’s record 139 million ton grain harvest faces severe logistics bottlenecks and quality mismatches, limiting export potential and complicating Black Sea flows. Kazakhstan Oilseed Export Roadmap Kazakhstan has…

Exports contract: Russian food and agricultural exports fell 10.3% year-on-year to $31.5 billion in Jan–Oct 2025, extending pressure on outbound Black Sea freight volumes. Imports surge: Agricultural imports jumped 14.2% to $35 billion, flipping the trade balance and signaling stronger inbound logistics demand. Decline moderates: The export drop slowed slightly versus the 11.1% fall through…