HAMBURG/CAIRO: Russia’s curbs on wheat exports have inadvertently helped Ukraine secure lucrative sales to Egypt this week while also inflating prices for the world’s top importer, traders said.
Egypt’s state grains buyer GASC bought 290,000 metric tons of wheat in an international tender on Monday. The purchase included 120,000 tons from Ukraine as well as 120,000 tons from Romania and 50,000 tons from Bulgaria.
Russia, the world’s top wheat exporter and Egypt’s most important supplier, was kept out of the sale due to unofficial policies to prevent a price spike at home as the country seeks to combat inflation partly fueled by military spending.
The restrictions, mostly not officially announced, include a minimum export price, export taxes and limiting sales of Russian grain by foreign trading houses.
“Had Russian exporters been allowed to offer realistic market prices, which would be much lower, I think they would have pretty much wiped up the Egyptian sale,” one trader said.
“The Russian moves are making Ukrainian supplies look more attractive, especially to importers in a difficult financial state like Egypt,” the trader added.
Russia’s agriculture ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether government grain export policies had led to the loss of business to Ukraine at this week’s Egyptian tender.
A trader in Ukraine said the Russian restrictions had provided more opportunites although the country had already realized about 60 percent of its potential sales this year.
“The cheapest supplier is leaving, so it’s probably not who wins but who loses,” the trader said, referring to how Russian policies could raise the cost of wheat for importers.
Hesham Soliman, a trader in Egypt, said Russia was holding off waiting for prices to rise and profitability to increase.
“This isn’t just about Russian export restrictions. Russia knows it controls the market and is acting accordingly,” he said, adding Egypt’s state buyer had pushed back by purchasing Black Sea wheat from other sources.
Noamany Nasr, a former adviser to Egypt’s supply ministry, said Russia frequently introduced subtle barriers to curb its own exports, whether to raise prices or for internal reasons.
“Ironically, this benefits Russia’s competitors.”
Egypt’s supply ministry said on Tuesday that after the purchase it now has strategic reserves for five months of consumption although traders expect it will need to secure additional supplies in coming months.
“There’s still supply in Romania where farmers have been holding onto a lot of their crop,” another European trader said.
“In Bulgaria, supply is gradually getting tighter. In Ukraine, there’s not a huge amount left, though they haven’t been shipping as vigorously as the Russians.”
Russia’s grain policies help Ukraine secure sales
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Russia’s grain policies help Ukraine secure sales
- Egypt’s state grains buyer GASC bought 290,000 metric tons of wheat
- Russia was kept out of the sale due to unofficial policies to prevent a price spike at home as the country seeks to combat inflation partly fueled by military spending
Thai villagers stay behind to guard empty homes as border clashes force mass evacuations
- Appointed by the local administration as Village Security Volunteers, they guarded the empty homes after many residents were forced to flee and with fewer security officials stationed nearby than usual
SURIN: Fighting that has flared along the Thai-Cambodian border has sent hundreds of thousands of Thai villagers fleeing from their homes close to the frontier since Monday. Their once-bustling communities have fallen largely silent except for the distant rumble of firing across the fields.
Yet in several of these villages, where normally a few hundred people live, a few dozen residents have chosen to stay behind despite the constant sounds of danger.
In a village in Buriram province, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the border, Somjai Kraiprakon and roughly 20 of her neighbors gathered around a roadside house, keeping watch over nearby homes. Appointed by the local administration as Village Security Volunteers, they guarded the empty homes after many residents were forced to flee and with fewer security officials stationed nearby than usual.
The latest large-scale fighting derailed a ceasefire pushed by US President Donald Trump, which halted five days of clashes in July triggered by longstanding territorial disputes. As of Saturday, around two dozen people had been reported killed in the renewed violence.
At a house on the village’s main intersection, now a meeting point, kitchen and sleeping area, explosions were a regular backdrop, with the constant risk of stray ammunition landing nearby. Somjai rarely flinched, but when the blasts came too close, she would sprint to a makeshift bunker beside the house, built on an empty plot from large precast concrete drainage pipes reinforced with dirt, sandbags and car tires.
She volunteered shortly after the July fighting. The 52-year-old completed a three-day training course with the district administration that included gun training and patrol techniques before she was appointed in November. The volunteer village guards are permitted to carry firearms provided by relevant authorities.
The army has emphasized the importance of volunteers like Somjai in this new phase of fighting, saying they help “provide the highest possible confidence and safety for the public.”
According to the army, volunteers “conduct patrols, establish checkpoints, stand guard inside villages, protect the property of local people, and monitor suspicious individuals who may attempt to infiltrate the area to gather intelligence.”
Somjai said the volunteer team performs all these duties, keeping close watch on strangers and patrolling at night to discourage thieves from entering abandoned homes. Her main responsibility, however, is not monitoring threats but caring for about 70 dogs left behind in the community.
“This is my priority. The other things I let the men take care of them. I’m not good at going out patrolling at night. Fortunately I’m good with dogs,” she said, adding that she first fed a few using her own money, but as donations began coming in, she was able to expand her feeding efforts.
In a nearby village, chief Praden Prajuabsook sat with about a dozen members of his village security team along a roadside in front of a local school. Around there, most shops were already closed and few cars could be seen passing once in a while.
Wearing navy blue uniforms and striped purple and blue scarves, the men and women chatted casually while keeping shotguns close and watching strangers carefully. Praden said the team stationed at different spots during the day, then started patrolling when night fell.
He noted that their guard duty is around the clock, and it comes with no compensation and relies entirely on volunteers. “We do it with our own will, for the brothers and sisters in our village,” he said.
Beyond guarding empty homes, Praden’s team, like Somjai, also ensures pets, cattle and other animals are fed. During the day, some members ride motorbikes from house to house to feed pigs, chickens and dogs left behind by their owners.
Although his village is close to the battlegrounds, Praden said he is not afraid of the sounds of fighting.
“We want our people to be safe… we are willing to safeguard the village for the people who have evacuated,” he said.
