The European Commission is considering introducing a duty on grain imports from Russia and Belarus in the amount of €95 per ton and on oilseeds and their processed products in the amount of 50%. According to the Financial Times (FT), a decision could be made in the coming days, writes RBC.
The introduction of an import duty is planned to reassure farmers and some EU member states. Brussels has long resisted pressure from Poland and the Baltic countries to limit Russian and Belarusian imports. European authorities believed that such a move could undermine global food markets and harm developing countries.
At the same time, against the backdrop of an influx of grain from Ukraine, Europe faced a crisis - farmers in Poland blocked the border, demanding, among other things, restrictions on the import of cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine and, increasingly, from Russia. The protests have become an irritant in relations between Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
In March, Tusk recalled that Latvia had banned the import of some agricultural products from Russia and Belarus and warned that Warsaw could follow suit. At the same time, he noted that he would prefer if it were a general decision of the EU to limit the import of agricultural products from these two countries. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, responded by saying that she was “assessing the possibility of introducing restrictions on the import of agricultural products from Russia.”
According to the FT, in 2023 the EU imported a record 4 million tons of grains and oilseeds, as well as their derivatives, from Russia. This represents about 1% of the total consumption of these goods by EU countries.
Against the background of the FT publication, May wheat futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rose in price by 1.6%, to $5.5 per bushel (about $202 per ton). On the main European exchange Euronext, wheat prices rose by 1.3% to €198.25 per ton ($215).
RBC notes that this increase in price looks small against the backdrop of the general downward trend in grain prices, which has been observed since the summer-autumn of 2023. During this time, wheat prices in Chicago fell by 27.5%, and in Paris by 14.4%.