Italian maize buyers turn to US, Brazilian supplies amid black sea disruptions
The disruption comes as attacks on Ukrainian ports and maritime infrastructure have sharply limited Black Sea export capacity.
ITALY – Escalating conflict in the Black Sea region has pushed Italian buyers to shift agricultural procurement to American and Brazilian suppliers, away from Ukraine, Italy’s historical primary source of maize imports.
The disruption has sharply reduced Ukrainian grain flows, with market insiders projecting up to a 60% decline in Ukrainian maize shipments to Italy if hostilities persist.
Port loading operations at Ukraine’s primary Odesa-area deepwater ports have been shut down, severely curtailing bulk movement.
Though smaller grain volumes continue to trickle out via Ukraine’s Danube River terminals, such as Izmail, or through overland truck and rail corridors, these flows remain significantly below traditional Handysize vessel capacities.
Safety risks along remaining river corridors have intensified following a recent attack on the Royad Mammadov, a dry cargo vessel transporting corn from Izmail to Ravenna, Italy, near Romania’s offshore Pescarus platform. As a result, volumes on alternative Danube routes are expected to dwindle further as maritime security risks mount.
To bridge the deficit, Italian importers have authorized alternative transatlantic shipments. According to regional grain traders, multiple US and Brazilian bulk vessels have either arrived or are en route, temporarily filling domestic port capacity.
A corn buyer at an Italian feed mill confirmed that receiving ports are nearly full of maize, cooling local spot market activity as participants prioritise executing existing contracts.
Market estimates indicate that 150,000 to 180,000 metric tons of maize arrived during the first week of October, with fresh buyer demand unlikely to materialize until late November or December.
Ukraine was previously Italy’s second-largest corn market after Turkey, accounting for about 2.72 million metric tons delivered between July 2025 and June 2026.
To cover long-term shortfalls, Italian buyers are also exploring opportunities in Romania’s Constanta-Varna-Burgas (CVB) region and Bulgaria.
Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed Ukrainian maize FOB POC at US$223 per metric ton, compared to US$269 per metric ton for FOB CVB origin maize.
The disruption has broader implications for food security. The World Food Programme says the Black Sea is one of the world’s most important grain-export corridors, and continued conflict there can raise transport costs and constrain supplies for import-dependent markets.
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