OREANDA-NEWS Low harvest volumes in Ukraine and in a number of European countries can lead to a global shortage of high-quality milling wheat. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to market participants.

According to analysts of UkrAgroConsult, only 35-40 percent of the harvested wheat crop will be of high quality, which will be the lowest figure in the last decade. In addition, the safety of grain export from the country will also be affected by the consequences of recent drone attacks on the port infrastructure of the Odessa region. Against the background of the military conflict, the access of local farmers to the use of fertilizers was limited, and high humidity led to a decrease in the quality of the harvested crop.

European farmers also faced a similar problem. Heavy rainfall in France and the states of Northern Europe led to a decrease in the quality of grain crops. And because of heavy rains in Germany, local farmers managed to harvest less than a fifth of the wheat crop. Adverse weather conditions also affected field work in the UK, where grain harvesting was delayed.

The British Council for the Development of Agriculture and Horticulture clarified that rainy weather can lead to rotting wheat. The German company Agravis, engaged in the production of grain crops, in turn, said that the delay in harvesting will reduce the level of protein content in finished products. Against this background, farmers in the northern regions of Germany warned that daily precipitation could lead to mold formation due to rising humidity.

The situation with grain quality is better in Russia, where about 74 percent of wheat harvested by the end of July was of food quality. However, this level was much lower than last year's 91 percent. At the same time, after Russia withdraws from the grain deal, the supply of agricultural products from the country may become difficult, experts say.

Earlier, Ukraine, which is a major player in the global grain market, was forced to reduce the acreage after the termination of the grain deal. One of the main reasons was Russia's blocking of the main export corridor through the Black Sea. Against this background, the harvested crop began to stand idle. According to experts, the closure of the Black Sea corridor threatens to limit wheat supplies from Ukraine until the end of 2024.