A FRESH hike in food prices is feared after Russia axed a deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain.
The move, after it blamed Kyiv for an attack on the bridge that links Crimea to mainland Russia, will block export access through the Black Sea.
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Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest producers of wheat, maize, barley and sunflower oil, and prices shot up when the Kremlin blocked its ports after last year’s invasion.
The crisis was only eased when Russia agreed a deal to let ships through.
But today’s decision by Vladimir Putin to end that deal jeopardises the key trade route, just as Ukraine’s harvest season approaches.
Wholesale wheat prices rose yesterday amid fears that supplies will be cut off from countries in Africa and the Middle East, who will have to turn to Russian wheat or face shortages.
Velina Tchakarova, an analyst at the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, said: “By creating conditions for food crisis 2.0, Putin will weaponise the dependence of African and Asian countries on Russian commodities.”
That will put extra pressure on the West. A cut in grain supplies could also send UK prices up.
James Walton, from retail analysts IGD, said: “Millions of people are now potentially exposed to higher food prices and disrupted supply.
“The UK is less exposed to grain shortages but it will be impacted by price shifts.”
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Food experts said poorer countries could suffer most.
Alberta Guerra, of ActionAid, said: “It’s likely we will see prices rise again, exacerbating the situation faced by many vulnerable countries already facing acute hunger.”
Europe’s heatwave this week could also hit yields.
Tonight, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped to persuade Putin to resurrect the deal when they meet next month.
TWITTER AD CASH SLASHED
ELON Musk has admitted that Twitter has lost almost half of its advertising revenue since he bought the social media site for $44billion last year.
The tycoon tweeted that the site would miss his target for improvement after failing to recover as much ad income as hoped.
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Mr Musk said Twitter must “reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else”.
He has already fired thousands of staff to save cash and tried to generate more income by charging users for “blue tick” badges.
He said Twitter Spaces, which he has used to host his own video interviews, was yet to generate any revenues.
Mr Musk is facing pressure from Threads, rival Mark Zuckerberg’s new app which runs alongside Instagram and Facebook.
It has already signed up 150million users and is billed as a safer space for companies to advertise with.
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BARCLAYS up 0.96 to 156.06
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TESCO down 1.10 to 248.90
NEW No10 CBI SNUB
THE Government has chosen 14 big firms to join Rishi Sunak’s new Business Council as bosses’ lobby group the CBI remains cold-shouldered over sexual misconduct claims.
AstraZeneca, NatWest, BAE Systems, SSE, Aviva, Sage and Diageo are among the 14, who together employ 330,000 in the UK.
No10 said: “The CBI is responsible for rebuilding the trust and confidence of their membership.
“That remains a matter for them.”
SNAIL MAIL
AN anti-ageing cream made from snail slime was one of the most popular orders during the Amazon Prime Day sale last Tuesday.
COSRX skin serum, made with snail mucin to speed up skin repair, was one of the delivery giant’s three UK bestsellers.
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Amazon Fire Sticks and Ninja air fryers made up the trio.
The firm said this year’s Prime Day was its biggest ever sale, with over 375million items shifted in just 24 hours.
The online shopping frenzy has provided a fascinating insight into the cultural differences between shoppers around Europe.
Toilet paper was the top seller in Holland, followed by Douwe Egberts coffee.
France appeared to have the most houseproud shoppers, with dishwasher tablets and vacuum cleaners the top buys.
Meanwhile in Spain, which is currently sweltering in a record-breaking heatwave, fans flew off the shelves — followed by nappies.
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BREWER: WE’LL BE TOP DOG
BREWDOG, the maker of Punk IPA and Elvis Juice craft beers, has unveiled plans to triple the size of its bar and hotel estate to 300 by 2030.
The beer and pub brand reckons this expansion will generate sales of £1billion — a huge jump on the £44million it made from pubs in 2022.
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BrewDog said its recent pub openings in London Waterloo and Las Vegas had added £20million of revenues alone.
It claims the London bar is the capital’s biggest, with 60 taps of draught beer.
The business hopes to open 25 new bars in India over the next five years, and more in the UK, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, USA and Thailand.
Boss James Watt said: “Fifteen years ago, we opened our first venue in Aberdeen and since then we have opened over 100 across the globe.”
Investing in high footfall locations was key, he said.
Some pubs have a micro-brewery for customers to learn how to make beer.
THE cost of living crisis is starting to bite at DFS, with the furniture retailer warning its sales have tumbled by a fifth.
The sofa chain, which rode the back of the pandemic’s homewares boom, said profits would now be at the bottom end of forecasts at £30million.
HOTTER’S FUTURE IS FROSTY
THE future of Hotter Shoes is on shaky ground after the company filed a notice to appoint administrators.
It is hoped that a pre-pack deal — which would see the company briefly enter insolvency before being flipped on to a buyer — will be announced within the next day or two.
Sources said administrators at Interpath Advisory were in detailed talks with a trade buyer.
Hotter Shoes had been trying to raise £2million from its investors to keep going.
The footwear firm’s owner is listed on London’s junior stock market as Unbound Group after being spun out of a private equity firm.
It has just 27 stores still open after shutting 46 during the pandemic.
