On the 48th week, freight rates in the Azov-Black Sea region began to rise, this way interrupting the trend observed in the last month of freight decrease. Thus, contracts for a shipment of 3,000 tons of wheat from Azov to Marmara Sea ports are concluded at the level of $ 70 per ton. The increase in rates is primarily due to the lack of open fleet in the region. Another factor to take into account is the unfavorable weather conditions in Rostov, where there the water level is extremely low (2.15 meters on the ADMK) and there are little chances that the level would stabilize in the coming days. At the same time, it should be noted that the activity in the grain market has not recovered, Turkish buyers are very inactive concerning Russian grain. The export fee on wheat has increased slightly since November 30, on barley it has dropped to 2308.6 rubles per ton, and the duty on corn will be null. Taking into account a small number of sales to Marmara ports, cargo to long-distance destinations such as Mersin, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus appear on the market more often. Nevertheless, shipowners are in no hurry to consider these cargoes, as with the current ban on the import to the ports of the Azov Sea, these voyages are nor profitable at the current market level.