Ukraine grain exports down 26.6% so far in 2022/23 season

Ukraine’s grain exports are down 26.6% at 32.9 million tonnes in the 2022/23 season so far, hit by a smaller harvest and logistical difficulties caused by Russia’s invasion, agriculture ministry data showed on Monday.

The volume so far in the July to June season included about 11.4 million tonnes of wheat, 19.1 million tonnes of corn and about 2.1 million tonnes of barley. Exports at the same stage of the previous season were almost 44.8 million tonnes.

The ministry said grain exports so far in March had reached 641,000 tonnes as of March 6, down from 1.33 million tonnes in the same period last year.

After an almost six-month blockade caused by Russia’s invasion, three Ukrainian Black Sea ports were unblocked at the end of July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

Ukraine has appealed to the United Nations and Turkey to press Russia to stop hindering Ukrainian grain shipments that supply millions of people, and not to use food as a weapon.

A major global grain grower and exporter, Ukraine’s grain output is likely to have dropped to about 54 million tonnes in clean weight in the 2022 calendar year, down from a record 86 million tonnes in 2021.

Officials have blamed the fall on hostilities in the country’s eastern, northern and southern regions.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)