Grain Carriers News

Capacity reduction on the Panama Canal have hurt dry bulk market, with dry bulk carrier transits down significantly (down 74% in the Q1 '24 vs. '23, with sailing distances up 31% and cargo volume down 25% year on year, according to BIMCO shipping analyst Filipe Gouveia.Low water levels in lake Gatun have caused restrictions in the number of transits through the Panama Canal at a maximum draft level of 13.4m (44 ft). Under typical conditions, between 34 and 38 ships transit the canal per day at draught levels of 15.2m (50 feet). At the start of the year, only 22 daily transits were allowed.

“Argentina is on track to boost grain exports by 40% in 2024, recovering from last year’s drought which afflicted crops, but still below the 2019-2022 average. Climate patterns and government policy are shaping the outlook,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.El Niño has brought improved weather conditions for Argentina’s grain crops. The wheat harvest is nearly complete and estimated to be 20% larger than a year ago. Meanwhile, the favorable conditions continue to support the growing maize and soybean crops.

Bulk grain shippers hauling crops from the U.S. Gulf Coast export hub to Asia are sailing longer routes and paying higher freight costs to avoid vessel congestion and record-high transit fees in the drought-hit Panama Canal, traders and analysts said.The shipping snarl through one of the world's main maritime trade routes comes at the peak season for U.S. crop exports, and the higher costs are threatening to dent demand for U.S. corn and soy suppliers that have already ceded market share to Brazil in recent years.

Ukraine has suspended the use of its new Black Sea grain corridor due to what it sees as a threat from Russian warplanes, the Kyiv-based Barva Invest consultancy said on Thursday."We would like to inform you of a temporary suspension of vessel traffic to and from (the ports). The current ban is in force on October 26, but it is possible that it will be extended," the consultancy said on the Telegram messaging app.Ukrainian officials were not immediately available for comment.The consultancy said a de facto suspension had already been in place for two days at the behest of the military…

BIMCO’s Documentary Committee has approved a revised version of the Continent Grain Charter Party, SYNACOMEX, to reflect changes in the geopolitical landscape following events including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The revised charter party now includes BIMCO’s anti-corruption clause and updated versions of the war risks and sanctions clauses.The charter party is developed by joint copyright holders SYNACOMEX and Armateurs de France, the French Union for Grains and Seeds Trade and the French Shipowners’ Association.

Russia has hit six civilian ships, 150 port and grain facilities and destroyed over 300,000 tonnes of grain since Moscow quit a deal allowing safe Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain, the Kyiv government said on Friday.In a statement, it said 21 vessels had been already loaded with grain for exports and used a new "humanitarian" grain corridor in the Black Sea announced by Kyiv in August. It said a total of 25 ships had entered Ukrainian ports for loading.(Reuters - Reporting by Olena Harmash; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Ukrainian grain exports fell 10% to 2.1 million metric tons in September versus August due to difficulties in export logistics and Russian shelling on key export facilities, the UCAB agricultural business association said on Tuesday. Exports of vegetable oils decreased by 13% to 479,900 tons, the association said in a statement. UCAB said wheat and sunflower oil dominated the export volumes in September. Ukraine exported 2.3 million tons of grain and 549,000 tons of vegetable oils in August, the association said.

A cargo vessel carrying grain has left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk for the first time since a grain deal collapsed, a top government official said on Tuesday, in a test of Ukraine's ability to unblock its seaports for grain export."The vessel RESILIENT AFRICA, carrying 3,000 tons of wheat, has left the port of Chornomorsk and is heading towards the Bosphorus," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook."This is the first of two vessels that entered Chornomorsk last week through a temporary corridor for civilian vessels established by the Ukrainian Navy."Kubrakov posted a photo of the ship on the open sea.Ukraine…

Ukraine is considering using its newly-tested wartime Black Sea export corridor for grain shipments after other cargo ships follow the first successful evacuation of a vessel on the route last week, a senior agricultural official said on Monday.Russia has blockaded Ukrainian ports since it invaded its neighbour in Feb. 2022 and threatened to treat all vessels as potential military targets after pulling out of a U.N.-backed safe passage deal last month.In response, Ukraine announced a "humanitarian corridor" hugging the sea's western coastline near Romania and Bulgaria.

Ukraine's air force on Wednesday said a large group of Russian army drones entered the mouth of the Danube River and headed toward the Izmail river port near the border with Romania.Social media groups reported hearing air defence systems firing in the area near two Danube ports - Izmail and Reni.The governor of southern Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, asked residents of Izmail district to take shelter at around 1:30 a.m. (2230 GMT) and cancelled the air raid alert one hour later.Ukraine's…

More than 100 firefighters fought a huge blaze at grain silos in the French Atlantic port of La Rochelle on Thursday, disrupting shipping activity at one of France's biggest grain export terminals.The fire started on a conveyor belt at around 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) in a grain silo complex operated by SICA Atlantique, the local prefecture said.Some 120 firefighters brought the blaze under control, helped by the use of a 72-metre (236.22 ft) high lift platform to access the conveyor belt above the grain silos…

Inspections of ships moving grains from Ukraine have restarted after a pause which threatened to shut down the Black Sea shipping corridor, the RIA news agency cited the Russian foreign ministry as saying on Tuesday. A ministry official quoted by RIA blamed Monday's interruption on Ukraine's failure to observe agreed procedures but said the issue has been resolved. Kyiv said on Monday the U.N.-brokered initiative allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain was in danger of shutting down after Russia blocked inspections of participating ships in Turkish waters.Pyotr Ilyichyov…

Inspections resumed on Wednesday aboard ships operating under the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal, after a one-day halt the day before, Ismini Palla, United Nations spokesperson for the initiative, told Reuters.All vessels headed to and departing from Ukraine are checked by officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the U.N. in Turkish waters. On Tuesday, the U.N. said inspections temporarily stopped as parties needed more time to agree operational priorities.Palla said "normal inspection patterns resumed" on Wednesday after the sides agreed a list of vessels the day before.

Ukraine may export a further 15.6 million tonnes of grain in the April to June quarter, which would unexpectedly lift this season's exports to nearly 53 million tonnes, the AgroPortal agency quoted the first deputy farm minister as saying on Thursday.Ukraine's 2022 grain harvest fell sharply to around 53 million tonnes due to Russia's invasion of the country, from a record 86 million tonnes in 2021.Millions of tonnes of grain from last year's harvest remained in Ukraine's silos…

Cargill said on Wednesday it would take a further step back from the Russian market by stopping handling Russian grain from its export terminal from July, although its shipping unit will continue to carry grain from Russian ports.Most international grain traders have stopped new investment in Russia since last year following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine but continued exporting Russian wheat."As grain export-related challenges continue to mount, Cargill will stop elevating Russian grain for export in July 2023 after the completion of the 2022-2023 season…

Romania and Poland are in talks with the European Commission over export tracing mechanisms for Ukrainian grains to ensure local farmers are not hurt by a flood of cheap imports, the Polish and Romanian prime ministers said on Tuesday.Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, has seen its Black Sea ports blocked since Russia invaded more than a year ago and has been forced to find alternative shipping routes through European Union states Poland and Romania.But logistical bottlenecks mean that large quantities of Ukrainian grains…

Ukraine's grain harvest is likely to fall to 35 to 40 million tonnes in 2023, including 12-15 million tonnes of wheat and 15-17 million tonnes of corn, a senior analyst and producer said on Monday.Alex Lissitsa, CEO of the IMC agriculture company and the president of the Association "Ukrainian Agribusiness Club", told a grain conference that Ukraine would be able to export around 15 million tonnes of grain in the 2023/24 season.The export could include up to 7 million tonnes of…

A ship with Ukrainian wheat destined for Ethiopia arrived in port on Saturday, the first vessel to sail as part of a push to send food to countries most vulnerable to famine and drought, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Last Saturday, Ukraine and allied nations launched an initiative to export $150 million worth of grain to Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Congo, Kenya, and Yemen. "We ship food. We ship hope," Zelenskiy said in a tweet accompanying a short clip of a vessel carrying 25…

Nord Cereales, which runs France's third largest grain export silo at Dunkirk port, has shipped its biggest volume in over 10 years for the first five months of the season, it said on Friday, illustrating a fast pace of French exports. Between the start of this season on July 1 and the end of November, Nord Cereales exported more than 1.2 million tonnes of grain, it said. This is a turnaround after the silo operator recorded a 30% fall in exports to 1.6 million tonnes over the full 2021/22 season due to a disappointing harvest, the COVID-19 pandemic and renovation work, it said.

Brazil's Paranagua port authority said on Tuesday that landslides caused by heavy rainfall blocked road and rail access to the port, the second busiest for grain exports in the country. In a statement, the authority said other port operations are normal as ships continue to unload and load products stored at the port's warehouses. Landslides have totally blocked the main access road to Parana's ports of Paranagua and Antonina, disrupting the flow of trucks headed to the coast, according to the statement.

Russia said on Wednesday it would resume its participation in a deal to free up vital grain exports from war-torn Ukraine after suspending it over the weekend in a move that had threatened to exacerbate hunger across the world. The Russian defense ministry said it had received written guarantees from Kyiv not to use the Black Sea grain corridor for military operations against Russia. "The Russian Federation considers that the guarantees received at the moment appear sufficient, and resumes the implementation of the agreement," the ministry statement said.

The main access road to Brazil's Paranagua port, the country's second busiest for grain exports, remained blocked by political protesters on Tuesday, according to a statement from the port authority, hobbling shipping from one of the world's top food producers. Blockades in the area were first reported Monday afternoon after similar demonstrations erupted throughout the country as supporters of outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro protested against his narrow election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The United Nations, Turkey, and Ukraine are pressing ahead to implement a Black Sea grain deal with a transit plan in place for 16 ships on Monday, despite Russia suspending its participation in the pact that has allowed the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to world markets.Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, halted its role in the Black Sea deal on Saturday for an "indefinite term" because it said it could not "guarantee safety of civilian ships" travelling under the pact after an attack on its Black Sea fleet.The United Nations and Turkey…