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Virginia Tech expert: Russia-Ukraine crisis will disrupt global agricultural markets

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will continue to have global impacts related to grain exports and production, oilseeds, fertilizer and petroleum, says a Virginia Tech agricultural trade expert.

Jason Grant, a professor and director of the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Center for Agricultural Trade, says that Russia and Ukraine account for 13-15 percent of global wheat production and 28 percent of global wheat exports.

“Some of Ukraine’s most productive wheat acres are on the Eastern side of the country where tensions with Russia first escalated,” Grant said. “Ukraine is also a major corn exporter to China, eclipsing the U.S. in recent years.”

“China has invested heavily in Ukrainian corn production as a way to diversify its suppliers and reduce its reliance on U.S. corn exports,” according to Grant. “Ukraine and Russia also account for three-quarters of global sunflower oil exports to the world market.”

“Most commodity prices are determined globally and the Russia-Ukraine conflict will only exacerbate inflationary pressure on already surging food and energy prices,” says Grant.

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