Ukraine grain exports fall to meagre levels in August, farmers union says

Ukraine’s ‌wheat and barley exports were at very low levels over August 1-10 after Russian attacks effectively shut Black Sea ports, traders at a major farmers’ union said on Tuesday. (Reuters/File)

• Ukraine and Russia have launched broader campaigns against logistics targets
• “Wheat and barley exports will be ‌very, very difficult in August and September,” UAC said ⁠

KYIV: Ukraine’s ‌wheat and barley exports were at very low levels over August 1-10 after Russian attacks effectively shut Black Sea ports, traders at a major farmers’ union said on Tuesday.
Ukraine and Russia have launched broader campaigns against logistics targets, with e-commerce warehouses on both ‌sides and Ukraine’s ‌petrol stations coming under ‌heavy ⁠attack this summer.
Russia ⁠has attacked Ukrainian Black Sea ports, export terminals and vessels almost daily in recent weeks.
The trading department of the country’s largest farmers’ union, UAC, said Ukraine ⁠had exported about 122,000 ‌metric tons of ‌wheat and 1,160 tons of barley ‌over August 1-10, equating to only ‌6 percent of total wheat and barley exports for the whole of last August.
“Wheat and barley exports will be ‌very, very difficult in August and September,” UAC said ⁠in ⁠a weekly report.
Ukraine traditionally exports significant volumes of barley and wheat in the first months after the harvest through the deepwater ports of the Odesa hub that handles 90 percent of the country’s agricultural exports.
The agriculture ministry said this month that losses to the agricultural sector from the port blockade could reach $3 billion.