Erdogan hit Russia: passage through the Turkish straits will rise in price five times

Agree that after the introduction of “nuclear” anti-Russian sanctions, the world has become different. They started talking about winter, which is close and which not all countries can survive due to high energy prices. Passions boil around a global hunger – again, food prices will “bite”. What is our daily bread! The Bosporus and the Dardanelles, more than once sung by poets of different eras, are getting more expensive against the general background of the expected cataclysms. And this has the most direct relation to our grain!

The Union of Russian Grain Exporters announced that Turkey intends to sharply increase the cost of dues from merchant ships for passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. Ankara has sovereignty over them under the 1936 Convention. This allows it to regulate the prices for the passage of ships at its own discretion, but in accordance with international maritime law. According to some estimates, if now these straits bring the Turkish budget 40 million dollars a year, then after the “adjustment” of the price – 200 million.

From the point of view of the letter of the law – no complaints. However, the current decision of the Turkish authorities creates quite definite and additional difficulties for the export of Russian wheat, which is now expected in many countries of the world. After all, no one removed the threat of famine announced by the UN, and here it is necessary to make every effort so that not a single country is left on a starvation ration.

So what is the essence of the sudden problem? After a deal on the export of Ukrainian wheat a month ago, which is traded at a significant discount, prices for products on world markets have decreased, including for export grain from Russia.

Now here came the second blow to the domestic peasants. An increase in the said fees for sailing (Turkish media announces a 5-fold increase in prices from October 7!) Automatically leads to an increase in prices for renting large-capacity vessels – and in Russia there are practically no such boats! And for cargo insurance.

Russian exporters note that as a result of the “grain deal”, Moscow promised to lift sanctions on the export of crops. Such promises were given not by clerks of some departments, but by the highest officials, invested, so to speak, with trust and power. But the restrictions, hidden or explicit, in fact, have not gone away. European countries still prohibit chartering their ships to Russia, cargo insurance is usually carried out by companies from the Old World, which raise prices for their services. Which in the end, like a snowball, winds up on the cost of goods for the end buyer.

And now there are additional fees – for the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles …

Shipment of wheat to the Black Sea ports is one of the main ways of exporting Russian food. This process goes on all year round, but October, due to weather conditions, is one of the most convenient months for navigation.

Recall that last year Russia exported about 36 million tons of wheat. Plans for this year, successful for grain growers, are Napoleonic: about 43 million. Such volumes could significantly reduce the heat in discussions about the expectation of a global food crisis. .

But the rate of export of Russian wheat in the current agricultural year has dropped significantly compared to last year. Experts say, they say, it’s not up to fat: in the context of hidden sanctions, they would repeat the result of 2021.

In the second half of autumn, navigation will stop on the rivers, then storms will begin on the Black and Azov Seas, and then the “holiday comes to us” – Christmas and New Year. There is a decline in business activity in financial and other markets. The bulk of export plans for grain may generally remain on paper.

According to Elena Tyurina, Director of Information and Analytical Support of the Russian Grain Union, the increase in fees for the passage of ships through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles may generally affect the demand for Russian export wheat. Not to mention its deliveries to the poor countries of the African continent.

What is especially disappointing is that our wheat is more competitive than European.

“It costs $17 a ton less,” she says. – This is a very significant discount, because countries buy hundreds of thousands of tons at once. If it weren’t for the “hidden sanctions” and the obstacles that European officials put up for us, we could have been great at supporting the world market with our grain.

However, existing prices still remain high for the poorest countries. Therefore, due to high prices, there are practically no deliveries to Central and South Africa: Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tanzania… Small volumes were shipped only to the Republic of the Congo. Due to “hidden sanctions” and price gouging, these and some other states may even be left on a starvation diet.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28858 dated August 31, 2022

Newspaper headline:
From straits to empty