Ukraine's daily grain rail loadings decline on port attacks, slower grain sales
Daily grain loadings on Ukraine's railway network have declined over the past week due to intensified Russian attacks on port infrastructure and weaker grain sales, Valerii Tkachov, deputy director of the transportation technology and commercial operations department at state railway Ukrzaliznytsia, said during an online meeting with market participants on July 16, Elevatorist.com reported.
Tkachov said Russian forces had been systematically attacking Ukraine's grain port infrastructure over the past two weeks, with the port of Chornomorsk suffering the heaviest damage and significantly reducing grain intake.
Ukraine's Transport Service Centre (CTS) said other seaports continue to operate normally, although their operations have been disrupted by prolonged air raid alerts.
According to Tkachov, the second factor behind lower rail loadings is reduced trading activity. Grain traders have become more cautious about purchases because of security risks, while farmers are holding back sales in anticipation of higher prices.
"As of today, grain sales have declined because traders are also taking security risks into account. Farmers are also holding onto grain, waiting for more attractive prices. So there are both commercial and security-related factors, and together they have caused rail loadings to decline over the past week," he said.
According to Ukrzaliznytsia, daily grain loadings stood at 50,000-60,000 metric tons as of July 16. The average daily loading rate since the beginning of July reached 61,100 tons, nearly 28% lower than in June.
