Why allowing Ukraine to ship grain during the war matters to the world

London: A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea expired at the end of Monday after Russia said it would suspend its participation. The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to alleviate a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blocked by the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be exported safely. The Black Sea Grain Initiative had allowed 32.8 million metric tons of food to be exported from Ukraine since August, more than half to developing countries, including those getting relief from the World Food Program, according to the Joint Co-ordination Centre in Istanbul. Speaking before the deal was scuppered, Maximo Torero, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation chief economist said “you will have a new spike for sure” in food prices. “The duration of that spike will depend a lot on how markets will respond.” The good news is some analysts don’t foresee a lasting rise in the cost of global food commodities like wheat because there’s enough ...