Market News & Headlines >> Black Sea Export Deal Extended

The Black Sea export deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain and other agricultural products through a “safe corridor” of the Black Sea has been extended for another two months, just one day before it was set to expire.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan announced the extension in a televised speech, and it was later confirmed by Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations, Reuters News Service reported. "The continuation is good news for the world," the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Wednesday.

News of the extension helped send U.S. wheat futures tumbling on Wednesday to losses ranging from 9 3/4 cents to 22 1/2 cents.

Movement of ships through the corridor had been minimal in recent days with the deal scheduled to expire on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday, the last remaining ship registered to travel through the Black Sea “safe corridor” under the export agreement left a Ukrainian port. The Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) in Istanbul, has not authorized any new vessels since May 4, according to Reuters.

Some 30.3 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs has been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal, including 625,000 tons in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen.