Grain deal deadline approaching slows down Ukrainian grain exports

UkrAgroConsult

The pace of grain shipments from Ukraine under the UN-backed grain deal has slowed as buyers’ concerns about possible ship blockages grow in the event of a failure to extend the grain deal. This was reported by Reuters.

According to the agreement, Ukraine was able to export about 29.5 million tons of agricultural products, including 14.9 million tons of corn and 8.1 million tons of wheat, in less than a year of its validity.

“However, the number of ships coming in to pick up cargo dropped this week to two ships a day from an average of three to four ships over the past three weeks,” the report said.

The Danish shipping group NORDEN, which transports grain, is among the companies that are not currently sending their vessels to the region.

“We are not currently involved in this trade… It is a risky area – it is very difficult to predict what will happen,” said NORDEN CEO Jan Rindbo.

“Things can change quickly… from the moment you agree to come in and pick up the cargo to the moment the ship actually arrives,” he added.

As noted, Moscow threatened to withdraw from the grain deal on May 18. So far, no official announcement has been made about the extension of the agreement.

However, it takes at least 9 days to ship grain, which includes all the necessary inspections.

An analysis by maritime and commodity data platform Shipfix showed that the number of cargo orders – global requests for available vessels to transport grain from Ukraine – fell to 355 in April from 489 orders sent to the market in March.

As reported, a meeting on the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative at the level of deputy defense ministers of Ukraine, Turkey and Russia will be held in Istanbul on Friday, May 5.

A queue of ships has formed in the Bosphorus Strait due to Russia’s blocking of the passage of bulk carriers with Ukrainian grain. The UN, Turkey, and Ukraine are making every effort to fully resume the grain deal.

Tags: Ukraine, export, grain