Global wheat prices hit a two-year high as fresh Black Sea attacks threaten grain exports

Global wheat prices rose on Monday, July 20, 2026, to their highest level since May 2024, accelerating after Russia and Ukraine intensified attacks on each other's commercial ships and ports in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, threatening grain exports. Market data showed wheat trading around 684 cents (near $6.84) a bushel on Monday, more than 14% higher over the past month and about 26% above a year earlier.

Russian strikes on the ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Pivdennyi have cut Ukraine's grain export capacity by roughly one-third. The jump matters for Iran, one of the world's largest wheat importers, because it can raise import costs and food-inflation pressure amid the war.