Russia clinches more grain control just as wheat prices spike
A drone view shows a bird that flies over a tractor during wheat sowing in a field of the agricultural enterprise Sovkhoz Morskoi near the village of Leninskoye in the Novosibirsk region, Russia, May 17, 2024. REUTERS/Vladislav Nekrasov
Russia is stepping up its bid to control even more of its crucial grain industry potentially giving it greater power over exports just as worries mount over global supply.
Major Western merchants including Cargill Inc. and Viterra pulled back from Russia last year after government pressure to make way for local firms. Now, even the country's top private trader is finding it tough to operate amid a spat with the state. That puts the market in the hands of fewer companies, some that have or had links to the Kremlin.
