Ukraine’s grain exports via Romania’s Constanta down by half in Jan-August

Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta recorded a drop in grain exports in the first eight months as shipments from Ukraine fell by roughly half, the port authority told Reuters on Wednesday.

The port shipped 20.18 million metric tons of grain in January-August, it said, down 9.1% on the year.

Constanta remains Ukraine’s main alternative route for grain since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, as well as its main route for fuel imports.

But Ukraine has managed to boost grain exports through its own ports by creating a shipping corridor that hugs the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria after Russia withdrew from a U.N.-backed export initiative last year.

Constanta Port data, which does not include volumes handled through smaller Romanian ports and exports by rail and road, showed that 120,000 tons of Ukrainian grain left port in August. Most shipments arrive in Constanta by barge on the river Danube, which had low levels in August due to drought, partially hampering transport.

Earlier this month Ukraine accused Russia of using strategic bombers to hit a civilian grain vessel with a missile in the Black Sea in NATO member Romania’s maritime economic zone, which trader said increased concern over tightening supply in the Black Sea export zone.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; editing by Tomasz Janowski)