GENEVA: More than 14 million tonnes of grain have been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal with Russia and eased global food prices, the United Nations said Thursday.
Rebeca Grynspan, head of the UN’s trade and development agency UNCTAD which helped broker the Black Sea Grain Initiative, said it had reduced world food prices for seven straight months.
“We have surpassed 14 million tonnes of food that has come out through the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” Grynspan told reporters at the UN in Geneva.
“The volumes that we are talking about are very significant for the market.”
Ukraine, one of the world’s top grain producers, was invaded by neighbouring Russia in February.
Two agreements brokered by the UN and Turkey were signed on July 22.
The BSGI concerned the export of Ukrainian grain blocked by Russia’s war, while the second agreement covered the export of Russian food and fertilisers despite Western sanctions imposed on Moscow following its invasion.
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The BSGI was due to run out on November 19 but was extended for another 120 days.
The deal has helped ease the global food crisis caused by Russia’s war.
Exports down on 2021
Grynspan brushed off claims that grain exports from Ukraine were ending up in wealthy countries rather than developing ones.
The former vice president of Costa Rica said grain exports for livestock had to be differentiated from those intended for human consumption.
“Animal feed has never gone in the majority to developing countries: it is more a developed country import,” she said.
“Two-thirds of wheat exports are going to developing countries,” which have been “benefiting widely” from the Black Sea deal in terms of grain for human consumption.
But the UNCTAD chief acknowledged that grain export volumes remained below 2021 levels.
“We are not where we want to be,” she said.
Grynspan is also concerned about a potential fertiliser crisis next year, saying the high price of fertiliser could cause an availability crisis in 2023.
She also said time was running out, because the sowing season cannot be extended.
“That’s why we are pressing so hard to be able to solve this problem as soon as possible,” she said.
Moscow has complained that the second agreement exempting its fertilisers from sanctions, which is due to run for three years, is not being respected.
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