Corridor delays bring sluggish export pace to Ukraine as new MY hits 500,000 mt

Ukraine's new marketing year has got off to a sluggish start in terms of grain export pace, as most cargo exports travel through the shallow water Danube ports of Ukraine, government data showed Friday.

Despite reaching the half million tonne mark since the start of the 2023/24 marketing year on July 1, exports via deep-sea ports have been limited by the absence of inbound inspections on the Black Sea grain corridor as the expiration of the critical gets closer.

Nonetheless, at 500,000 mt as of July 7, the volume of grains and leguminous exports from Ukraine in the new marketing year are 56% higher than the same period of the previous season, which had reached 318,000 mt.

That is a marker of the growing expertise and capacity that Ukraine has developed through the Danube corridor to the Black Sea - as well as ongoing utilisation of cross-border links with surrounding EU nations.

But the pace of bulk exports via the grain corridor has slowed amid renewed accusations that Russian inspectors have slowed their inspection activity for inbound vessels, and continue to refuse to inspect vessels bound for the key port of Pivdennyi. 

In detail, 177,000 mt of wheat has been shipped since the beginning of the season, which is more than three times the volume in the same period of the previous year.

Turkey was the leading destination for Ukrainian wheat, with 50,423 mt declared for export during the first week of June, followed by Romania (41,270 mt), and Spain (37,129 mt).

Corn exports reached 273,000 mt, which is 9% more than shipments in the same period last season.

China and Italy were the leading destinations for Ukrainian corn during June, with 65,443 mt proceeding to China and 62,741 mt to Italy.

Barley deliveries to foreign markets amounted to 46,000 mt, which is also three times higher than the same period of the previous year.

Finally, barley deliveries to foreign markets amounted to 46,000 mt which is also three times higher than the same period of the previous year.

The lion's share of the volume (87%) was taken by Romania (21,777 mt), Spain (9,003 mt), and Israel (8,834 mt).

As of July 8 last year, 318,000 mt in total had been exported from Ukraine, of which 52,000 mt was wheat, 15,000 mt was barley, and 249,000 mt was corn.

The data was provided by the Ukrainian customs authorities and shows the goods that have been declared for export, but the figures do not always correspond to the volumes that physically left the country during the period.