According to official sources in the Ukraine, grain exports from their three functional Black Sea ports will amount to less than 3.0 million metric tons in November compared to 4.2 million tons in October.  The reduction is attributed to action by the Russian Federation in delaying inspections of vessels transiting Turkey.  The original free-passage agreement, negotiated in July and extended in mid-November, requires teams of inspectors to ensure that vessels moving to and from ports in Ukraine do not carry contraband.  Currently, close to 80 vessels are awaiting inspection in Istanbul. Congestion and delays have increased freight costs borne by both purchasers of grain and by shipping companies.  Deliberate delays imposed by Russia have reduced the export capacity of Black Sea Ukraine ports to 50 percent of capacity.

President Putin, of the Russian Federation, is now pursuing a war of attrition aimed at weakening the economy of Ukraine by destroying infrastructure and depriving the country of foreign exchange from agricultural exports.  Recognizing that the Russian Federation cannot achieve its military objectives, he is playing for time, hoping that the European and U.S. Alliance will weaken in their resolve to support Ukraine over the winter while he is concurrently prepared to trade Russian lives on the battlefield for time.  Disruption of free passage of vessels carrying grain is only part of the Russian strategy to extract territory from a forced diplomatic settlement.

Action by the Russian Federation indirectly impacts the cost of corn that is influenced by the availability of wheat.