Chicago wheat futures closed at $7.55 per bushel on Thursday, up 0.9%, marking their highest closing price since July 2023 and poised for their largest monthly gain since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The immediate trigger for this rally was Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's statement last Saturday that Russia rejected a ceasefire proposal to stop attacks on Black Sea grain vessels, leading to a continuous escalation of mutual strikes targeting grain ships and export ports in the Black Sea region, bringing grain exports to a standstill. Market participants warn that global food supply faces an unprecedented shock, and alternative routes will struggle to compensate for the lost throughput capacity.