Ukraine weekly exports of key grains jump despite high freight costs

KYIV: Ukraine’s weekly exports of wheat, corn and barley increased by 80 percent in the period from August 27 to September 2, reaching 433,700 metric tons, APK-Inform consultancy said on Monday.

It said the volume of corn jumped by 212 percent to 184,100 tons, while exports of wheat increased by 40 percent to 243,000 tons.

Ukrainian grain exports had fallen sharply since late July after Russian missile and drone attacks blocked Ukrainian Black Sea ports in the Odesa region.

Data from APK-Inform showed that in early July, when the ports were operating as normal, Ukraine exported around 760,000 tons of grain per week.

Following the closure of its seaports, Ukraine has redirected its grain shipments to ports on the Danube and towards its western borders, although officials and analysts say that these alternative routes cannot compensate for the loss of the seaports.

Ukrainian traders union UGA said last week that Ukraine’s combined grain and oilseed exports fell to 1.2 million tons in August from 2.5 million tons in July.

Over the previous several seasons Ukraine exported at least 4 million tons of grain and oilseed a month via its seaports before the blockade.

APK-Inform said traders had increased shipments of grain cargo to the Danube ports 12 percent over the week, however, export growth is being constrained by a shortage of vessels and high freight rates.

Traders and analysts previously said logistics costs from Danube ports were USD40-USD50 per ton higher than from Black Sea ports.