Agricultural exports from Ukraine doubled to over 4.2M tonnes in July compared to the same month last year – despite intensified Russian attacks, according to data from Ukrainian grain traders’ union UGA reported by Reuters.
A major global wheat, corn and sunflowerseed producer, Ukraine exported about 6M tonnes/month of grain via the Black Sea before Russia’s invasion in 2022, the 12 August report said.
Despite intensified Russian attacks on Odessa, a key Black Sea export hub, and Izmail, a major port along the Danube River taking grain into Europe, Ukraine had continued to ship as much grain as it could to take advantage of military gains in the Black Sea, Reuters wrote.
At the time of the report, Ukraine had not reported the destinations of its exports in July but last season, it exported most of its wheat to Spain, Egypt and Indonesia, with its corn mostly heading for Spain and China.
The surge in exports came despite this season’s drop in output caused by war-related disruptions, and there was no guarantee that Kyiv could sustain the trend into the full 2024/25 season, the report said.
“We are doing everything to make business feel comfortable even in wartime conditions,” Ukraine’s Seaport Authority deputy head Dmytro Barinov told Reuters.
The exports comprised a combination of new season wheat and corn from stocks following last year’s bumper harvest, the report said.
According to export data, Ukraine exported 3.7M tonnes of agricultural goods in July through Odessa and 569,000 tonnes via the Danube. That compared with 291,000 tonnes via Odessa and 2.07M tonnes tonnes through the Danube in the same month last year.
The export total included six corn shipments from Ukraine’s two other operational Black Sea ports Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi in June and July to Rotterdam, Europe’s busiest port, and Spain’s Cartegna, according to separate LSEG shipping data.