Coincidence or Sabotage? Explosions Rock Grain Silos in France, Turkiye, Ukraine and Brazil

Following the withdrawal from the grain deal, Russia destroyed Ukraine’s Black Sea ports to disrupt grain shipments pivotal to the Ukrainian economy and also struck sites on the Danube River near Romania.

Recently, a fire broke out in a grain silo in the Port of La Rochelle on France’s Atlantic coast.

The fire in France came two days after an explosion in grain silos near the Port of Derince in the Turkish province of Kocaeli while unloading grain from a Russian ship.

Late last month, eight people were killed and about a dozen injured after an explosion in a grain silo at an agricultural cooperative in southern Brazil.

Are these successive bombings just ordinary incidents that coincided with the Ukrainian grain crisis, or are they fabricated and could drag countries into a food crisis?

 

Sequential Explosions

Silos operator Sica Atlantique announced that a fire broke out, on August 10, in four grain silos in the French Port of La Rochelle, pointing out that the fire is under control and did not reach the stored grain.

It is the second explosion targeting the port of the largest grain exporter in the European Union, and it comes a few weeks after Russia’s withdrawal from the Ukrainian grain export agreement, which sparked a wave of Western criticism.

France’s dominant role as the leading grain producer in the EU inevitably increases the repercussions of such an incident.

Any disruption to the country’s grain reserves could have far-reaching effects on the country’s economic stability and potentially spill over into the overall EU economy.

The city of La Rochelle, located on the Atlantic coast of France, is one of the most geographically important grain export stations in the country.

Not only does it play an important role in the storage and transportation of grain products in France, but it plays an important role in the European grain supply chain.

The accident comes days after the explosion of Ukrainian grain silos in the Turkish government Port of Derince, overlooking the Sea of Marmara.

Turkish officials’ statements about the cause of the explosion varied between assertions that the explosion occurred due to the pressure of wheat dust while transporting wheat from the ship to the silo, while other explanations were that it was an act of sabotage.

On his part, the head of the Turkish Grain Board, Ahmet Guldal, told CNN Turk that he does not rule out that the Turkish port explosion that occurred yesterday was an act of sabotage, although it is a remote possibility.

It is noteworthy that Ankara was the mediating country between Moscow and Kyiv during the signing of the grain export deal before Moscow withdrew from this deal.

The Communications Department of the Turkish Presidency said that the explosion damaged 13 out of 60 silos belonging to the Turkish Grain Board there (about 15,000 tons of grain), in addition to killing a worker and injuring 13 others.

Because the Port of Derince and the grain silos were used during the grain export deal, rumors circulated that Russian exports would be affected, which was discussed by the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty, denying any impact of the explosion on Russia’s wheat exports.

“Grain dust is very dangerous. There have been cases where concrete silos have exploded, leaving only the foundations. Therefore, today’s incident is very likely as a result of non-compliance with safety rules, and grain storage conditions may have been violated,” Alexander Korbut, an independent expert on the agricultural market, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

“Russia sells the grain to Turkiye on board terms. That is, our special obligations end after the grain is loaded on board the ship in the Russian Black Sea or the Port of Azov, and then the Turks take it to the place they see fit. Therefore, for us, the consequences of the explosion in the grain terminal in the Turkish Port of Derince, if any, are very minimal,” expert Korbut said.

In a related context, the Parana state government said on July 26 that at least eight people were killed and more than 10 injured after an explosion in a grain silo of an agricultural cooperative in southern Brazil.

The explosion occurred in the Sea Valley cooperative in the small town of Palotina, about 600 kilometers from Curitiba, the state capital. Paraná is one of the largest grain-producing states in Brazil.

 

Russian Attack

In recent weeks, Russia has targeted the Black Sea Port of Odesa, where the headquarters of the Ukrainian Navy is located, as well as the Ukrainian Port of Izmail across the Danube from Romania, damaging their infrastructure and grain facilities, according to Reuters.

Also in mid-August, grain silos and warehouses in Odesa, Ukraine, were severely damaged by Russian drone attacks on a port off the Danube River in Ukraine.

On his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned, on August 17, the Russian strikes on his country’s ports, adding that every Russian attack on them represents a blow to global food prices and a blow to social and political stability in Africa and Asia.

About a quarter of all grain exports originated from Ukraine’s ports on the Danube River before Russia withdrew from a UN-backed deal to provide safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea on July 17.

The ports have since become the main route for export, with the grain sent on ferries to the Black Sea Port of Constanta in Romania for shipment from there.

Last month, Russia also attacked Port Izmail, Ukraine’s main inland port across the Danube River from Romania, sending global food prices soaring as Moscow intensified its use of force to prevent Kyiv from exporting grain.

Attacks by soft planes destroyed facilities in the port and stopped ships preparing to arrive there to load Ukrainian grain, in defiance of a blockade that Russia has re-imposed since mid-July.

 

Food War

After a decade of progress in reducing hunger levels, global hunger rates have begun to rise again due to food shortages and food insecurity associated with the repercussions of the Russian–Ukrainian war and the consequent rise in global food prices to record levels.

The developments—that highlighted the talk about the global food crisis and exacerbated the fears associated with its repercussions on the lives of millions—are represented by Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, India’s ban on its food exports, the destruction and blockade of Ukrainian grain ports, in addition to the impact of the repercussions of climate change on the volume of agricultural production globally.

After Russia failed to conquer Ukraine by conventional means, Moscow tried to use energy as a weapon, trying to disrupt the electricity grid and force European countries to submit and not help Kyiv, but it was unable to achieve this, to resort to waging a food war, as a result of which many countries in the world will be affected, according to a report by the Guardian newspaper.

By turning food into a weapon, Russia resorted to one of the oldest forms of warfare. Ancient armies burned the granaries of their enemies to starve them into submission.

Since Moscow withdrew from a UN-brokered deal to allow Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea on July 17, it has imposed a naval blockade on Ukraine’s ports and directly targeted food sources, destroying 220,000 tons of grain awaiting export in silos.

It is noteworthy that the global grain price index had risen by 10% in late July after Russia torpedoed the grain initiative in the Black Sea, which closed a route that carried about 33 million tons over the course of a year, equivalent to more than half of all Ukrainian grain exports, according to the Guardian.

Some traders believe that prices will rise by 20% by the end of summer.

78.9% of high-income countries suffer from high food price inflation, according to the World Bank.

According to the FAO, food price inflation has exceeded overall inflation in 80.1% of 166 countries around the world.