Three Ships Waiting to Unload Ukraine Grain at Ports in Iran

Three ships carrying 70,000 to
80,000 metric tons of Ukraine grain are waiting to unload near
ports in Iran, according to Svitlana Malysh, freight analyst at
UkrAgroConsult.

Seven others have changed direction and gone to Saudi
Arabia, Sudan, Qatar and Yemen, Malysh said in a phone interview
today in Kyiv. Payments may be made through letters of credit or
some credit accounts and no bartering, she said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in November
that Iran has studied how to make an atomic bomb. The government
in Tehran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes. The
U.S. and EU have imposed sanctions restricting petroleum and
non-energy trade and financial transactions in the past three
months to force Iran to give up illicit nuclear activities.

There’s no state level restriction on trade between Iran
and Ukraine, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk
said Feb. 3. Disruptions to Iran-bound shipments were related to
payments, the minister said.

Iranian importers are negotiating possible imports of corn
through Iraq and wheat flour through Turkey, Malysh said.
Traders in Kazakhstan also may supply 1.5 million tons of grain,
mostly barley, to Iran, she said.

Iran purchased up to 500,000 tons of wheat this week and
1.1 million tons in the past two weeks for shipment from
February through April, Kyiv-based UkrAgroConsult said in e-
mailed statement today. The wheat isn’t from Ukraine, it said.

The nation purchased 420,000 tons of German wheat, 300,000
to 360,000 tons of Canadian wheat, 240,000 tons of Brazilian
wheat and 200,000 tons of Australian wheat, UkrAgroConsult said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Kateryna Choursina in Kyiv at
kchoursina@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Claudia Carpenter at
ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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