In March, Ukraine’s agricultural exports totaled 5.4 million tons worth $2.1 billion, with the share of agricultural products accounting for 58% of the country’s total exports of $3.6 billion, with corn and sunflower oil being the key items, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food reported on Telegram.
According to the report, the top 5 categories of Ukrainian agricultural exports include corn – $514 million (2.4 million tons), sunflower oil – $503 million (441 thousand tons), wheat – $254 million (1.1 million tons), soybeans – $150 million (370 thousand tons), and poultry meat – $95 million (41 thousand tons).
The minister emphasized that compared to last year’s March, the value of exports increased by $87 million (+4%). This became possible due to the continued strong position of more marginal products (sunflower oil, soybeans, poultry) in the export structure and the overall growth of prices for agricultural products.
“The agricultural sector remains the backbone of the Ukrainian economy, providing more than half of the country’s foreign exchange earnings in times of war. Our producers continue to demonstrate competitiveness in the global market, and the Ministry is consistently working to diversify markets and expand the export potential of the processing industry,” Koval said.
According to him, the average export prices for basic commodities in March 2025 per ton were as follows: corn – $215, sunflower oil – $1,141, wheat – $225, soybeans – $407, poultry – $2,300. This price environment on world markets contributed to an increase in the value of Ukrainian agricultural exports.
At the same time, there has been an increase in exports of certain types of processed foods. In particular, exports of bakery products increased by 24% compared to March 2014 to $29.5 million (+$7.7 million), butter – by 254% to $9.87 million (+$7.3 million), and cheese – by 32% to $5.3 million (+$1.4 million).
The main trading partners in March were Turkey ($270.8 mln), Italy ($171.1 mln), Spain ($170.4 mln), Egypt ($162.4 mln) and the Netherlands ($121.6 mln).
In 2024, Ukraine reached the pre-war level of exports of $24.5 billion, accounting for 59% of total exports, the second historical record after 2021, when the country supplied $27.7 billion worth of agricultural products to foreign markets, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval said on Telegram.
The Minister clarified that in total, Ukraine exported 78.3 million tons of agricultural products in 2024. At the same time, sunflower oil accounted for the largest share (21%), with almost 6 million tons exported for $5.1 billion. Corn was in second place, accounting for 21% of agricultural exports with 29.6 million tons worth $5 billion, and wheat was in third place, with 15%, 20.6 million tons worth $3.7 billion.
Among the leaders, Koval named rapeseed – 7% (3.8 million tons for $1.8 billion), soybeans – 5% (3.4 million tons for $1.3 billion), cake and residues obtained during the extraction of vegetable fats and vegetable oils – 4% (4.7 million tons for $1 billion).
The share of meat and edible poultry products reached 4%. These products amounted to 447 thousand tons worth $958 million. Barley (3.3 million tons worth $557 million) and sugar (746 thousand tons worth $418 million) accounted for 2% each, the Minister of Agrarian Policy summarized.
The agro-industrial group Kernel, due to the blockade of Ukrainian seaports by Russian warships, reduced the rate of export of agricultural products by 90% compared to the pre-war period, from 7.5 million tonnes per year to approximately 750,000 tonnes per year, the group said, citing its CEO Yevhen Osypov.
“Today, Kernel’s export performance has reached only 10% of pre-war results, despite the fact that we export more than 7.5 million tonnes of the products annually. We, like colleagues from other companies, are constantly working on alternative channels for the sale and delivery of products,” his words are quoted in a message from Kernel on the group’s Facebook page on Monday.
According to Osypov’s forecasts, the war unleashed by the Russian Federation could lead to a 40% reduction in sunflower oil exports. Taking into account its exports in the 2020/2021 marketing year (MY, September-August) at the level of 5.13 million tonnes, in the current MY 2021/2022, supplies to foreign markets may be reduced to 3.1 million tonsne.
“The war can become a humanitarian catastrophe for the whole world, but we are doing everything possible to ensure food security,” Kernel’s CEO stated.
As reported, before the Russian military invasion, Ukraine monthly exported up to 5 million tonnes of agricultural products through the ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv, however, due to the blockade of these ports by the aggressor country, Russia, Ukraine can transport no more than 500,000 tonnes of grain monthly, which leads to a monthly shortage of $1.5 billion in export earnings.
