Russia is the world’s single largest exporter of wheat, accounting for about 20% of global wheat trade in the 2020/21 season. Ukraine is also one of the top exporters of wheat, accounting for about 9% of global wheat trade.

In 2021, the Russian Federation exported 31 MMT of seaborne wheat. That was 20% less than in 2020, which was a particularly strong year, but still 5% more than in 2019.

Russian wheat trade is generally very short haul, very fragmented, and with small cargo sizes. In 2021, at least 2,500 separate wheat cargoes (some of them were part cargoes) were shipped from Russia, with the average cargo (or part-cargo) size being 12,000 tonnes. In general, about one third of wheat exported from Russia is loaded on Panamaxes, often with multiple discharge ports. The remaining two thirds of exports are on Handy or Supras, or on general cargo vessels.

Russian exports are shipped almost entirely (98% of the total) from the Black Sea. 7.9 MMT of wheat was shipped in 2021 from Russia to Turkey, the top destination, accounting for 23%. In second place is Egypt, with 6.0 MMT accounting for 18%. In third place is Iran, with 4.2 MMT accounting for 12%. In fourth place is Saudi Arabia, with 0.9 MMT accounting for 2.5%. 

Russian grain shipments from the Black Sea are continuing but are affected by exceptionally high insurance premiums for vessels. In addition, the sanctions that have been applied make commercial transactions challenging. As a result, grain prices have soared for all major exporters. International wheat price indices are currently up by about 70% compared to a year ago.