Prices on wheat jump after dam blast as fighting escalates in Ukraine

Bloomberg reports that Chicago wheat futures were up 3.1% as of 1:03 p.m. in London, continuing their upward trend from a 30-month low. Corn saw a 1.4% increase. 

Within the flood zone are more than 80 settlements, including Kherson city, which could result in hundreds of thousands of casualties. An essential component of the nation's energy infrastructure, a hydro power plant constructed in 1956 supplied electricity to more than 3 million people.

“The short term impact is the damage of grain silos and other equipment situated in the low banks of the river,” Sergey Feofilov, head of UkrAgroConsult said. “Exactly which silos, whether grains are in the silos, and how much of the grain might be rotting is unclear immediately now. The long-term impact will be much more dramatic.”

Rabobank analyst Dennis Voznesenski said the flooded areas had been under war zone conditions for a while. "The impact on crop production may be less than if this occurred during non-war years," he claimed. 

​​Additionally, Ukraine said that Russian shelling in the Kharkiv region close to the two countries' border had damaged an ammonia pipeline. In negotiations to keep Ukrainian supplies moving via the Black Sea, Russia views the pipeline, which was shut down during the war, as being essential.

• The full operation of the "grain agreement" enabling the export of Ukrainian food through the Black Sea is believed to be beneficial for the entire world. 

• On Tuesday, June 6, the Kakhovka HPP was blown up by the Russian occupying forces, as a result of which it was completely destroyed. The evacuation of residents of dangerous areas has begun, and the President of Ukraine has called an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council