Ukraine targets Middle East for grains exports as EU quotas set in

Ukrainian traders are looking to increase grain exports to the Middle East as their duty-free access to the European Union market has expired, the CEO of a company that supplies grain to Jordan has said.

Malak Al Akieli, CEO of Golden Wheat for Grain Trading, said that in the last month or so, two Ukrainian companies have applied to register to participate in tenders to buy grain from Jordan, with one not being approved and the other successfully supplying milling wheat to Jordan.

Mykola Gorbachev, head of the Ukrainian Grain Association, said that if Ukraine can no longer export grain to Europe at a reasonable profit, it will export to other countries “where we will compete with European traders.”

Malak said that when it comes to wheat, it may be difficult for Ukraine to compete with European countries on price and/or quality.

“I think we (will continue) to get our supplies mainly from Romania,” Al Akily told Reuters on the sidelines of the International Grains Council conference in London, referring to Jordan’s purchases of milling wheat.

However, increased competition from Ukraine is always welcome, as it is likely to mean lower prices.

Ukraine, the world’s seventh-largest wheat exporter, has shipped more than 4 million tonnes of wheat to the EU since the start of the 2024/25 season last July.

The quota restoration restores a duty-free quota of 1 million tonnes per year on wheat supplies from Ukraine to the EU.

Including the remaining seven months of 2025, this would amount to about 583,000 tonnes of wheat, well below Ukraine’s current shipment levels and highlighting the urgent need to find new export markets.

Last year, agricultural products accounted for about 60% of Ukraine’s total exports, which amounted to $41.6 billion, with the European Union purchasing about 60% of these goods.

Tags: Ukraine, Romania, EU, wheat, Jordan