Exports of agricultural products in December 2023 should exceed 6 million tons, which became possible due to the opening of the Ukrainian shipping route, said Maksym Kharchenko, analyst at UkrAgroConsult, an information and analytical agency.
“Exports of agricultural products in December 1-15 totaled 3.38 million tons, which is 20% more than in the same period of the previous month. At the same time, the share of land exports in total exports decreased to 14.1% amid increased activity of seaports. At the same time, the role of the Danube ports in the first half of December was the lowest for the whole of 2023,” he said.
According to him, the rate of exports of agricultural products by road decreased by the end of the year due to the continuation of strikes in neighboring European countries. Currently, a queue of almost 4,000 trucks has formed to enter Ukraine from Poland. The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine says that by the end of this year, Ukraine and Poland may come to a common position on blocking the borders.
“It should be noted that vegetable oils remain the main commodity transported by road for export,” UkrAgroConsult said.
Speaking about the export of agricultural products by rail, analysts noted that its pace in the first weeks of December is only slightly behind the pace of previous months. The total export volume in December is forecast at 800-900 thousand tons, which does not differ from the average for the last four months. Export flows by rail have not yet had time to reorient towards seaports.
UkrAgroConsult reported that as of December 19, 6.6 thousand railcars with grain (or about 400 thousand tons) were heading to Ukrainian seaports via domestic rail transportation, which is almost a thousand more than a week earlier.
At the same time, exports by sea through the ports of the Danube region in the first half of December amounted to only 0.56 million tons, which is far behind the same period last month.
“The Danube region is gradually losing its attractiveness for exporters due to the opening of a much cheaper option for exporting through Odesa ports,” analysts explained.
Partly due to the activity of the ports in the Danube region, in January-November, the Romanian port of Constanta shipped 32.6 million tons of grain, setting a record (the previous annual record was just over 25 million tons). Ukrainian grain amounted to 13 mln tons, or about 40% of the total transshipment volume. In 2022, the volume of transshipped agricultural products from Ukraine in the port of Constanza amounted to 8.6 million tons, UkrAgroConsult stated.
“Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, has been using its Aeneid and Mavka vessels to export agricultural products for the second year in a row and intends to further expand its fleet, the agricultural holding reported on Facebook.
“For the second year, we have been operating our own vessels and transporting Ukrainian products in the difficult conditions of the termination of the grain deal. (…) Two Kernel vessels, Aeneid and Mavka, are currently exporting Ukrainian products. The deadweight (maximum loading) of the bulk carrier Aeneid is 47,335 tons, and the Mavka tanker is 13,500 tons. We have no plans to stop and are already working on expanding the fleet,” the statement said.
The agricultural holding noted that the use of its own fleet is economically beneficial, especially during the period of inflated freight rates during martial law. The development of its own shipping gives impetus to the entire market and strengthens the country’s export capabilities, Kernel believes.
“The Black Sea remains the only alternative for Ukrainian exports. The deep-water ports are able to accumulate and ship large-tonnage consignments of more than 60 thousand tons. This makes it possible to optimize logistics processes and significantly reduce costs. All alternative routes have extremely high logistics costs,” the agricultural holding explained and promised to continue to strengthen Ukraine’s exports and contribute to food stability in Europe and the world.
As reported, before the war, Kernel was the world’s largest producer of sunflower oil (about 7% of global production) and its exports (about 12%). It is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. In addition, it is engaged in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
In the first quarter of FY2024, the company posted a net loss of $30.9 million, while the previous year ended with a net profit of $162 million, with a 17% decrease in revenue to $564 million.
According to the report, the book value per share for the year decreased from $20.7 to $6 (or PLN26.22), in particular due to an increase in the number of shares from 77.429 million to 147.864 million.
In January-November this year, Ukrainian mining companies reduced exports of iron ore in physical terms by 30.5% year-on-year to 16 million 145,920 thousand tons.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), foreign exchange earnings from iron ore exports amounted to $1 billion 624.403 million (down 42.8%) in the period under review.
Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (28.73% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (20.20%) and the Czech Republic (20.18%).
In January-November of this year, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $131 thousand in the total volume of 244 tons. Imports during this period came from Norway (35.88%), the Netherlands (29.77%) and Italy (26.72%). At the same time, during the same period in 2022, iron ore worth $62 thousand was imported in a total volume of 96 tons.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine decreased the export of iron ore in physical terms by 45.9% compared to 2021 – to 23 million 984.623 thousand tons, while foreign exchange earnings decreased by 57.8% to $2 billion 912.974 million.
Iron ore was exported mainly to Slovakia (19.23% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (17.32%) and Poland (16.49%).
Last year, Ukraine imported iron ore worth $65 thousand in a total volume of 101 tons, while in 2021 – $184 thousand in a volume of 1,202 thousand tons.
Imports were carried out from Norway (36.92%), the Netherlands (27.69%) and the UK (16.92%).
In January-November 2023, Ukraine exported $730 million worth of furniture, which is 3.2% less than in 2022, Oksana Donska, a board member of the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAFM) and coordinator of furniture cluster development, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The main reason for the drop is the blocking of the Polish-Ukrainian border. Trucks with furniture stood in line at the border for weeks in November 2023, and a small share was delivered by vehicles with a carrying capacity of up to three tons. It is expected that the pent-up demand of November and the lifting of the border blockade with Poland will allow us to ship orders and reach the export level of $810 million in 2023 and significantly increase exports next year,” Donska said.
In particular, JYSK buys Ukrainian products for sale in all its international networks. “If we compare the volume of JYSK’s purchases in Ukraine in 2023 with 2021, the company has increased the volume of purchases in physical units, and in monetary terms by almost 20% in euros,” said Iryna Romanchuk, purchasing manager at USK Ukraine LLC.
According to her, JYSK is ready to further increase the volume of purchases if Ukrainian producers are ready to switch to European standards and implement environmental and social initiatives at their production facilities.
Overall, the share of furniture exports in total exports of goods from Ukraine amounted to 2.2% in 11 months of 2023.
From 2009-2021, exports of Ukrainian furniture (product group 94) grew annually by an average of 13.5% from $0.2 billion to a record high of $1.1 billion in 2021. In 2022, Ukrainian furniture producers managed to keep exports at $0.8 billion, of which 91.1% were to the EU.
Donska noted that in 2023, the structure of exports by partner countries changed. Thus, compared to the same period in 2022, the share of exports to Poland decreased from 35.1% ($264.6 million) to 29.5% ($215.2 million). At the same time, the volume of exports to Germany increased significantly by 17%, from $129.3 million to $151.3 million, with the corresponding changes in the share from 17.2% to 20.7%.
The Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAFM) unites more than 70% of the furniture industry.
In January-November this year, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium ores and concentrate in physical terms by 96.2% year-on-year to 11.063 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, exports of titanium ores and concentrate decreased by 84.5% to $18.474 million in monetary terms.
The main exports were to Turkey (38.05% of supplies in monetary terms), Japan (17.38%) and India (6.44%).
Ukraine imported 1 ton of such ore from the Netherlands for $2 thousand in the period under review.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium ore and concentrate in physical terms by 41.8% compared to the previous year to 322.143 thousand tons, and in monetary terms by 19.6% to $130.144 million. At the same time, the main exports were made to the Czech Republic (47.91% of supplies in monetary terms), the United States (11.94%) and Romania (9.75%).
In 2022, Ukraine imported 196 tons of similar products from Senegal (70.41%) and Turkey (29.59%) for $115 thousand.
In Ukraine, titanium ores are currently mined mainly by the United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which manages Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipro region) and Irshansk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (Irshansk, Dnipro region). ) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyr region), as well as Mezhirichinsky GOK and Valky Ilmenite (both based in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region). In addition, Velta (Dnipro) has built a mining and processing plant at Birzulivske deposit with a capacity of 240 thousand tons of ilmenite concentrate per year.
In addition, Velta, a Dnipro-based industrial and commercial company, has built a mining and processing plant at the Birzulivske deposit with an annual capacity of 240 thousand tons of ilmenite concentrate.
In January-November this year, Ukraine reduced pig iron exports in physical terms by 3% compared to the same period last year, to 1 million 190.442 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), pig iron exports in monetary terms amounted to $450.576 million in the period under review (down 25.2%).
At the same time, exports were carried out mainly to Poland (53.49% of supplies in monetary terms), Spain (22.4%) and the United States (9.95%).
In the first eleven months of 2023, Ukraine imported 79 tons of pig iron worth $132 thousand from Germany (50.38%) and Brazil (49.62%), while no pig iron was imported in November. In the same period last year, 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand were imported.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of processed pig iron by 59% in physical terms compared to the previous year – to 1 million 325.275 thousand tons, and by 61.1% in monetary terms – to $638.774 million.
In 2022, Ukraine imported 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand, while in 2021 it imported 185 tons of pig iron worth $226 thousand.
Exports were made mainly to the United States (38.47% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (32.91%), and Turkey (8.12%), while imports were made from Germany (100%).
