Three biggest western shippers of the Russian grain export market, Cargill Inc., Viterra, and LDC announced that they are going to exit the Russian grin export market in a shift that will give local firms more control over shipments and grain prices.

Cargill, Viterra and LDC announced that they are going drop grain export activities in Russia. Statements coming one after another from top western grain shippers are thought to trigger a new risk in food prices as opposed to consecutive reductions reported by FAO.

“Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) will cease grain exports from Russia from July 1, 2023, as grain export challenges continue to increase in the country, and is also assessing options for the transfer to new owners of its existing Russian business and grain assets,” the Netherlands-based company said in a statement. LDC added that the company will continue to run its operations in Russia until the process is complete in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. LDC employs about 650 people in Russia, focusing on wheat, barley, and corn exports, and exporting 1.5 million to 3 million tons of grains annually from Russia.




The successive announcements coming from the Western shippers are likely to trigger a new risk in food prices, as opposed to the declines in food prices mentioned in the FAO reports. Russia’s agriculture ministry maintains that  these three statements would not affect the volume of Russian grain exports, which include about 17% of global wheat exports.