"Will Bread Prices Rise Again?"... Wheat Prices Hit 5-Month High After Russian Bombing of Danube River

Grain Prices Surge... Wheat at $7.7 per Bushel
US Focuses on Attack Near NATO Ally Romania

The global grain market is stirring once again. This is due to Russia expanding its attacks on Ukrainian grain export facilities to the Danube River port area near the Romanian border.

According to major foreign media on the 25th (local time), wheat prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) futures market reached their highest level in five months. On that day, wheat traded at $7.7725 per bushel (a grain weight unit; 1 bushel = 27.2 kg), up 2.6%, marking the highest price since February 21 of this year. Corn rose 0.1% to $5.69 per bushel, while soybeans fell 0.1% to $14.2350 per bushel.

Grain prices surged as Russia launched attacks on the Danube River delta to block Ukrainian ship navigation. The Danube River lies between Ukraine, Romania, and Moldova, and since the outbreak of war in February last year, it has become an important cargo route for Ukrainian grain exports. According to the agricultural economic research institute StrategyGrain, Ukraine exports up to 2 million tons of grain monthly through the Danube River.

On the 17th, Russia declared its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which guarantees Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea even during the war, and has been attacking the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on the Black Sea coast daily. On the 24th, Russia attacked Reni, a port village in southern Ukraine's Odesa Oblast, with drones, destroying grain warehouses. Reni is a village of about 18,000 people located along the Danube River estuary, facing Romanian territory.

Major U.S. media outlets are focusing on the fact that Russia has expanded its attack range near the border of Romania, a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ally. Although the Romanian Ministry of Defense stated there was no direct military threat, if attacks on the Danube River area intensify, it could lead the war into a new phase. NATO operates a collective defense system whereby if one ally is attacked, it is considered an attack on all, prompting a collective response.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.