Ukrainian grain exports almost halved in May – logistics market expert

This happened due to the ban on imports and transit from Ukraine by some countries and by blocking of the “grain corridor” by the aggressor country. This was stated by Viktor Berestenko, President of the Association of International Freight Forwarders of Ukraine, at a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine – Odesa.

“In May, 391 thousand tons of grain were exported. Of these, 241 thousand tons were transported to ports, and 150 thousand tons through western border crossings. This is actually half the amount of grain that was usually shipped. If this trend continues, Ukrzaliznytsia will only be able to transport 1.2 million tons in a month. However, last month it transported 2.1 million tons, and in general, during the peak period, it transported almost 3.5 million tons,” –  the expert said.

He added that the volume of transportation of Ukrainian agricultural products across the borders of Poland and Hungary has decreased four times. In April, Poland and Hungary banned the import of Ukrainian grain.

“The situation remains tense. The average daily volume of grain transfer is 14 wagons/day, in April it was 28 wagons/day; in March – 58.19 wagons/day. At the same time, there are no issues with Romania and Slovakia regarding the passage of agricultural cargo,” –  Berestenko said.

In addition, the unloading in seaports decreased by almost 2.5 times due to the blocking of the “grain corridor” by the aggressor country.

“From May 9 to 15, 2023, not a single ship arrived at the Ukrainian ports of Odesa region. There have been no such breaks since the beginning of the grain corridor. Earlier, six vessels a day used to pass through this corridor, now there are less than two,” – Berestenko added.

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