Grain elevators and terminals in Ukraine: a new phase in the logistics and infrastructure development

Logistics has always been in the spotlight of the Ukrainian agricultural market. The war exacerbated and highlighted the industry’s problems such as uneven regional distribution of grain elevator capacities, insufficient development of overland export routes, and underestimated potential of small seaports.

As the export got limited to the throughput capacities of the “grain corridor” and land border crossings, the share of logistics costs in the export price increased sharply – UkrAgroConsult has repeatedly covered this point in its reports.

The disruption of normal grain flows during the war gave rise to new trends in grain cultivation, storage and export shipments. For example, these include the following:

• relocation of businesses to the west. The trend of increasing the share of the central and western regions in grains and oilseeds production stimulates new projects for the construction and expansion of silos
• costly logistics, a small number of free grain elevators, a shortage and unstable supply of electricity promote the use of alternative storage and drying methods
• increased risks and limitations faced by deep-water ports shift attention to the small Danube ports, some of which have boosted grain handling almost 100-fold since the outbreak of the war.

The war requires companies to make quick decisions and changes in their operation. Not all agricultural market participants have managed to pass the stress test, find their way and reduce their losses over this difficult time. But the most flexible and efficient ones have coped with the challenges and used the opportunities for scaling up.

Any crisis is a new opportunity. Europe and the world are becoming more open to Ukrainian businesses, and Ukraine, for its part, can offer them its unrealized development potential in many areas, including infrastructure.

Taking into account the above and many other trends, UkrAgroConsult is updating its study “Grain Elevators and Terminals in Ukraine.” We bring to your attention the latest and verified information to understand what logistics will be like in the near future and in the post-war period.

Tags: Ukraine, export, grain, logistics, grain storage, war