Grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports are continuing with five new vessels currently waiting to be loaded, according to Minister for Infrastructure of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Almost 120,000t of Ukrainian grain will be exported to Africa and Europe via bulk carries Olga, Ida, Danny Boy, Forza Doria, and New Legacy, the minister said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Three vessels which recently had entered the ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdenij left yesterday (Sunday, October 1), carrying 127,000t of agro-products and iron ores for China, Egypt and Spain.
Grain exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea have resumed via a “temporary corridor for civil shipping”. After the Black Sea Grain Initiative ended in July, Russia had again blocked the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) said that although the “first stage” of launching agricultural exports outside the grain deal has already taken place, “difficult conditions” remain.
Grain exports
Increasing the volume of food exports by sea to 30% of the level that was exported before the full-scale invasion would improve the work with exports, UAC deputy chair Denys Marchuk said.
Until February 24, 2022 – the day Russia invaded Ukraine – 6-7 million tonnes of agricultural products were exported from sea ports every month, according to the UAC deputy chair.
Describing the work of the humanitarian corridor as “encouraging”, he said that the export of 20,000t of grain which already successfully left ports shows that the corridor “can work”.
“This is a signal to the world that security in the waters under our control is ensured,” Marchuk said adding that the “free passage of ships through the sea routes will only improve”.
There are currently 120,000t of food products in the queue for passage to Ukrainian sea ports. Agricultural exports of about 3 million tonnes last month are a “good result”, he said.
However, the UAC deputy chair said that stable monthly exports of 4.5 million tonnes of food products are needed for the normal functioning of the Ukrainian agricultural sector.
