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Ukraine establishing new grain export route

An ag economist says Ukraine is seeking an alternative shipping route that could help boost its grain export volumes to pre-war levels.

Jim McCormick with AgMarket.Net tells Brownfield Ukraine is expected to utilize a new corridor along the Danube River. “This is a verified report,” he said. “They made this announcement just recently at the Munich Security Conference. Can they execute it? Time will tell.”

He says Ukraine’s goal is to bypass Poland. “There’s a lot of conflict with grain being railed into Poland because the Polish farmers feel like it’s driving their prices down. The Polish farmers are essentially blocking routes into the country as a way to keep the Ukrainian grain out.”

McCormick says the new route could impact U.S. wheat prices. “If they can find a way to get more grain out of the country, plain and simple, that will be negative pricing because you will have more competition.”

And, he says he doesn’t expect Ukraine to return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Russia.