Ukraine's grain exports are down 48.6% year-on-year in the 2022/23 season so far at 5.291 million tonnes, the agriculture ministry has said.
The country's grain exports have slumped since the start of the war because its Black Sea ports, a key route for shipments, were closed off, driving up global food prices and prompting fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East.
Three Black Sea ports were unblocked at the end of July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
The ministry data showed that exports so far in the July 2022 to June 2023 season included 3.17 million tonnes of corn, 1.65 million tonnes of wheat and 447,000 tonnes of barley.
The volumes include 993,000 tonnes of grain exported so far in September versus 1.67 million tonnes exported in the same period of last year.
The government has said Ukraine could harvest at least 50 million tonnes of grain this year, compared with a record 86 million tonnes in 2021, because of the loss of land to Russian forces and lower grain yields.
Export Projections
About 280,000 tonnes of agricultural products will be exported in the near future from Ukrainian ports for the World Food Programme (WFP) under a UN-brokered deal, the Ukrainian infrastructure ministry said last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (7 September) that Russia and the developing world had been "cheated" by the deal and he wanted to revise the agreement as Ukrainian exports were not going to the world's poorest countries as originally intended.
Ukraine, however, says around 2.37 million tonnes of food have already left its Black Sea ports, including 1.04 million tonnes for Asian countries and 470,000 tonnes for African states.
"Thanks to partners from the United Nations, another 190,000 tonnes of grain have already been purchased for further export to the states of the African continent," the ministry said in a statement. It gave no details on the other 90,000 tonnes of food to be exported.
The first exports from this tranche will be on the bulk carrier KARIA ANGEL, a vessel chartered by WFP that is undergoing inspection in Istanbul, it said.
"After verification, it will be put to load 30,000 tonnes of wheat in the port of Chornomorsk," the ministry said.
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