Ukraine’s grain exports continue to fall significantly behind the pace a year ago, with 13.4 million tonnes exported so far, compared to 18.3 million tonnes last year, according to data from the agriculture ministry.
The exports include 5.9 million tonnes of wheat, 6.5 million tonnes of corn and 876,000 tonnes of barley. By this time last year, Ukraine had exported 6.9 million tonnes of wheat, 9.8 million tonnes of corn and 1.48 million tonnes of barley.
Ukraine officials expect a harvest of 79 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds in 2023-24, with an exportable surplus of 50 million tonnes.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine made up 9% of global wheat exports, 15% of maize and 44% of sunflower oil.
United Nations officials are trying to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Russia quit in July, a year after the United Nations and Turkey brokered it. Since then, Ukraine has launched a humanitarian corridor for agricultural exports that has allowed for more than 4 million tonnes of shipment. The route runs along Ukraine’s southwest Black Sea coast in Romanian waters and toward Turkey.