Agrotrade grain exports plunge fourfold in six months of war
Photo by: АГРОТРЕЙД / Agrotrade
During the six months of the russia-Ukraine war, Agrotrade Group exported about 140,000 t of grain, about four times less than the company had delivered to foreign markets in peacetime.
This volume includes both Agrotrade's grain and that of other holdings, according to Elena Vorona, director of operations at Agrotrade Group.
"In today's conditions, traditional trading has been transformed into joint execution of contracts with other agricultural producers. Therefore, now we are teaming up with companies that also face challenges getting grain out to make joint sales," she comments.
The situation with exports has somewhat improved after the unblocking of the three ports — Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdenny — under the Istanbul agreement. Now that rail is no longer the only way to export grain, the pace of exports has doubled, Elena Vorona adds.
The reopening of the ports of Big Odesa had its effect on grain prices. Before, the prices in the domestic market were very low, and in the international market, on the contrary, they surged, but now this gap is gradually shortening.
As of September 14, grains export from Ukraine dropped by 47% YoY.
