Grain shipments to Syria on hold after fall of Bashar al-Assad regime

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has disrupted Syria's grain imports, creating uncertainty in trade with Russia

The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8 after the opposition took control of the country has raised questions about future import policies and temporarily halted import trade, sources told Fastmarkets.

Syria is heavily dependent on grain imports, especially wheat, with the latest United Nations update saying that around 1.6 million tonnes of wheat are forecast as an import need for the 2024/25 marketing year, 8% below average, as the country’s private sector has been facing issues related to currency devaluation along with internal and macroeconomic instability.

Russia has recently been the main wheat supplier to the country, with around 670,000 tonnes already imported during the 2024/25 marketing year. However, following the change in leadership, the future of the trade has become uncertain.

Russia has been supporting the regime of Bashar al-Assad, with the president of Syria escaping to the country after the turmoil.

On Monday December 9, the head of the Russian Grain Exporters Union, Eduard Zernin, said that Russian exporters are not going to stop their supplies to Syria and will work with the Syrian side to resolve payment issues.

At the same time, sources said that some vessels carrying Russian wheat destined to Syria are at anchor, as they are not able to process payments.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian agriculture minister Viktor Koval has said that Ukraine is ready to supply Syria with food.

Currently, according to market sources, Ukrainian goods are already being delivered to Syria by going through other destinations, thus hiding the final one.

Official customs data shows zero imports of agricultural products from Ukraine for at least the last three years.

It was also said that the government might be working on a mechanism to process such shipments, but no details or further confirmation was received.

Fastmarkets sent a request to the Agriculture Ministry of Ukraine, but no response was received by the time of publication.

In general, trade sources said that they were waiting until the new regulations come into force given the regime change in Syria, with uncertainty over whether sanctions will be lifted from the country and how banks will adapt to the new reality.

What to read next
French milling wheat exports from the port of Rouen reached their greatest volume in the past 16 weeks, with 87,000 tonnes of milling wheat exported in the week to March 26, according to data released by French port operator Haropa on Thursday, March 27. While the 87,000 tonnes is a relatively large volume of weekly […]
The National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) denied late on Thursday, March 27, a request from Brazil’s National Union of Fuel and Lubricant Distribution Companies (Sindicom) to suspend the mandatory biodiesel blend in diesel for 90 days in the country. Brazil currently has a mandatory blend of biodiesel in diesel at 14% (B14), […]
AG-SYB-0078 Crush Margin China Soy (Brazil) March 20, 2024:M1: 104.25 yuan per tonneM2: 63.25 yuan per tonneM3: 43.25 yuan per tonneM4: -44.75 yuan per tonneM5: -122.25 yuan per tonneM6: -132.75 yuan per tonne August 21, 2024:M1: -5 yuan per tonneM2: -6.75 yuan per tonneM3: -50.25 yuan per tonneM4: -100.5 yuan per tonneM5: 23.5 yuan per tonneM6: 34.5 yuan per tonne AG-SYB-0079 Crush Margin China Soy (US Gulf) March 20, […]
The European Commission is considering delaying a first set of countermeasures to US tariffs on aluminium and steel until mid-April, EU trade chief Maroš Šefcovic said on Thursday, March 20. The measures, announced on March 12, cover a wide range of agricultural and industrial goods including potentially some wood products, pulp, paper and board. The […]
In the week to March 13, US soybean meal and soybean cake sales fell slightly, while exports increased, the latest USDA figures released on Thursday, March 20 showed. US 2024-25 soybean meal and cake sales reached 182,200 tonnes, down by 1% on the week and by 20% from the four-week average, but within average market […]
Malaysia’s palm oil exports during March 1-15 totalled 381,790 tonnes compared with 422,425 tonnes the preceding month due to lower purchases from key destination markets, according to figures from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services (ITS).The figure excludes shipments of soft oils, coconut oils and used cooking oil (UCO), with the volume down by 10%, or […]