(Adds wheat futures rising, analyst comment)
By Olga Popova and Karl Plume
MOSCOW/CHICAGO, March 29 (Reuters) - Cargill Inc said on Wednesday it would take a further step back
from the Russian market by no longer handling the top wheat
supplier's grain at its export terminal from July, although its
shipping unit will continue to carry grain from the country's
ports.
The move stoked concerns about global grain supplies
disrupted by the 13-month-old war in the Black Sea breadbasket
region, lifting benchmark wheat futures prices from earlier
losses.
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," the company
said in an emailed statement.
"Elevating" refers to the lifting of grain into export
vessels.
Cargill, which owns a stake in the grain terminal in the
Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, did not specify if it was
selling the stake.
Benchmark Chicago Board of Trade May wheat futures rallied to a one-month peak on Wednesday and EU May milling
wheat hit a two-week high as the news sparked
nervousness about grain flows from the top wheat exporter.
"Russian state exporters claim that they'll be able to keep
grain moving out at the same pace, but major speculative funds
holding large short positions lack confidence in that
currently," Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist with
StoneX, said in a market note.
The Russian agriculture ministry had said earlier that
Cargill informed it that it would stop its grain export
activities from the start of the next season.
"The cessation of its export activities on the Russian
market will not affect the volume of domestic grain shipments
abroad. The company's grain export assets will continue to
operate regardless of who manages them," the agriculture
ministry told Reuters.
In addition, grain trader Vittera, part-owned by
Switzerland-based mining and trading giant Glencore , is
planning to stop grain trading in Russia, Bloomberg News
reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
A spokesperson for Vittera declined to comment but said a
statement would be issued at a later stage.
Vittera and Cargill are among the largest exporters of
Russian wheat.
According to RBC business daily, Cargill will export 2.2
million tonnes of Russian grain in the 2022-23 exporting season,
or around 4% of Russia's total grain exports.
(Reporting by Olga Popova in Moscow, Karl Plume in Chicago and
Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris
Additional reporting by Olzhas Auyezov
Writing by Sybille de La Hamaide
Editing by Josie Kao and Matthew Lewis)
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