In May 2022, Ukraine exported the maximum volumes of sunflower oil since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation – 186 thousand tons, which is 23% more than the previous month.
In May, there was also a gradual increase in the countries-importers of Ukrainian oil – products were shipped to more than 60 countries of the world, although the EU countries remained its main consumers, the website of the APK-Inform agency reported on Friday.
According to him, Poland became the largest importer of Ukrainian oil, which accounted for 20% (37.2 thousand tons) of supplies of this product from Ukraine.
“Shipping to more distant countries of the world (25% of Ukrainian exports in May) is significantly limited by logistics, an increase in delivery time and, accordingly, its cost. At the same time, Turkey should be singled out among the main importers after the EU countries, where almost 12 thousand tons of sunflower oil,” the agency said in a statement.
The growth in sunflower oil exports indicates the adaptation of market participants to current realities and the gradual establishment of product supply chains through land border crossings and Danube river ports, the agency stated.
In turn, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the country exported 202.65 thousand tons of sunflower oil in May (+56% compared to April 2022), which is 8% higher than the data from APK-Inform.
The temporary suspension of exports of wheat, flour and sugar will ensure Moldova’s food security until the next harvest, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Viorel Gerciu said Thursday in parliament.
The minister did not predict the price of bread in autumn, but said that this year’s wheat harvest will be less than last year’s (900,000 tons instead of 1.7 million tons). But even this will be enough to cover domestic demand, which is estimated at 660,000 tons per year.
Referring to the supply of fertilizers in Moldova, disrupted due to hostilities in Ukraine, the minister said that the country consumes 270,000 tons of fertilizers annually. Until the end of February, the cost of this volume of fertilizers was estimated at $80 million, but now the price has risen to $220 million. “129,000 tons of fertilizers have already been imported to Moldova this year, which is enough to meet the needs of agricultural producers today,” Gerciu added.
The United States intends to build granaries in Poland on the border with Ukraine to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain to Europe by rail, US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.
“We are going to build temporary granaries on the border with Ukraine – in Poland,” he said during a speech broadcast by the White House on Tuesday.
Biden noted that this plan, if implemented, would allow exporting grain from Ukraine to Europe, and from there to other parts of the world. He said that he is currently “working closely with European partners to release 20 million tons of wheat from Ukraine to world markets.”
The US President also acknowledged that the plan “will take time” to implement.
Ankara is awaiting a response from Moscow on organizing a possible meeting between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the UN to discuss the issue of exporting grain from Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.
“Our position was stated very clearly. We are awaiting a response from the Russian side, both on the issue of holding the meeting and other details,” the Anadolu agency quotes him as saying.
“We stressed the Turkish side’s readiness to organize a quadripartite meeting in the UN-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia format. This is ultimately a UN initiative,” the minister said.
Cavusoglu said that during talks this week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, he explained that the UN plan to transport grain from Ukraine by sea is the best.
Earlier this week, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that Ankara considers the UN plan to export grain from Ukraine feasible. He noted that discussions are underway on the creation of a “grain corridor” mechanism in the Black Sea with the participation of the UN, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to discuss the issue of grain export corridor with Ukrainian and Russian leaders Vladimir Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, the Turkish Anadolu agency reported on Twitter.
“Turkish President Erdogan said he would discuss the issue of grain export corridor with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts next week,” the statement said.
Transmission system operators in Continental Europe have responded positively to NPC Ukrenergo’s request to resume electricity exports from Ukraine, the company said.
“Today, the energy system of Ukraine is operating in the trial emergency synchronization mode with ENTSO-E, which means that export-import operations with European counterparties are not performed. However, both the Ukrainian and European sides are considering the possibility of a phased increase in export volumes, which would be mutually beneficial” , – reported on the Ukrenergo website on Wednesday.
