By Godson Umejiego, Bureau Chief, The Americas

May 16, 2023, the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) released a dashboard that demonstrates the scope of Black Sea grain and oilseed trade. Millions of tons of grain are shipped through these international waters each year, making the Black Sea region a major supplier of agricultural commodities worldwide.

Using pre-war data from FAS’s Production, Supply and Distribution database and Centre d’Etudes Prospectives et d’Informations Internationales, the dashboard demonstrates the impacts Black Sea trade disruption can have on food access in various countries. The analysis focuses on key commodities, including barley, corn, soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, and wheat. For each country, the largest suppliers are shown, which allows the dashboard to illustrate the potential impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“Russia’s war in Ukraine has had a major impact on grain and oilseed exports from the Black Sea region,” said USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis M. Taylor. “By looking at the Vulnerabilities to Trade Disruption dashboard, it becomes very clear how big an impact Russia’s war has on food security in countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, as many countries in these regions import a significant portion of their grains and oilseeds from Ukraine and Russia.”

The dashboard is complementary to the Russia Grain and Oilseed Exports Expand trade report published last week by FAS. As the Black Sea Grain Initiative is renegotiated, this report and dashboard provide an in-depth data-based analysis of trade from the region.

“The new trade report shows that despite the Russian government’s continuous claims of export challenges, Russia’s grain and oilseed exports have thrived during the current marketing year with ample supplies and competitive prices,” added Taylor. “Since the beginning of this unjustified war, the Russian government has significantly reduced the transparency of its trade data, requiring USDA analysts to find additional data sources to accurately measure agricultural trade in the region.”

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