By Polina Devitt and Vladimir Soldatkin
(Reuters) – Ukraine said on Thursday it could consider all ships travelling in the Black Sea toward Russian ports and Russia-occupied Ukrainian ports as potential carriers of military cargo starting from July 21.
Such vessels will be subject to “all the relevant risks,” Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said. The statement mirrors the threat Russia’s Defence Ministry made on Wednesday for all ships travelling to Ukraine.
Following are some details about Russia’s major commodity exports and the significance of the Black Sea export routes:
GAS
Russia exports liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) via the Kerch Strait, which connects the Azov Sea with the Black Sea, in tankers. Black Sea port of Taman accounts for around 7.5% of Russia’s total LPG exports.
GRAINS
Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter, mainly to Africa and the Middle East. It is also a major exporter of maize (corn) and barley. It is currently harvesting its new crop meaning that millions of tonnes of grain would be available for exports in coming months.
Russia’s Black Sea grain terminals handle about 70% of the country’s grain exports. They include the ports of Novorossiisk and Taman.
Ports in the Azov Sea handle the remaining 30% of Russia’s grain exports. The navigation of vessels through the Kerch Strait have been affected after Russia suspended movement on July 16 and Ukraine said on Thursday that navigation there was dangerous, though several ships were moving there on Thursday.
Russia is forecast to export 47.5 million tonnes of wheat in the new 2023/24 marketing season which started on July 1, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
OIL
Russia exports its oil from the Black Sea terminal of Sheskharis, near Novorossiisk, while the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), handling around 1% of global oil, ships oil from the nearby terminal of Yuzhnaya Ozereevka.
CPC handled 58.7 million tons (1.2 million barrels per day) of oil from the terminal last year, while Sheskharis has annual capacity of 40 million tonnes (800,000 bpd).
(Reporting by Polina Devitt and Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Josie Kao)
