Poland needs new specialized terminals for transshipping Ukrainian grain, as existing storage capacity for large shipments is virtually exhausted, said Bartosz Penchkovsky, owner and CEO of the Polish logistics company Frontier Logistics.
“Right now, if we look across all of Poland, it effectively has no capacity to store large volumes of cargo—30,000 metric tons or more. All of this capacity is effectively occupied,” he said during the online discussion “Alternative Export Routes: Synergy Between Ukrainian and Polish Logistics Amid the Black Sea Blockade.”
According to him, in 2022–2023, Polish investors expanded the capacity of port and border terminals for transshipping Ukrainian cargo, which, in theory, could have facilitated the export of 6–8 million metric tons of goods per year. However, after the ports of Greater Odesa resumed operations in 2024–2025, a portion of Ukrainian cargo returned to the Black Sea ports, while Polish terminals shifted their focus to other types of cargo. In particular, Poland began receiving approximately 3–3.5 million metric tons of soybean meal from Latin America and other goods.
According to him, another “bottleneck” is access to specialized railcars for transporting grain.
Penchkovsky also noted that some border crossings have spare capacity, while others are overloaded.
He added that Poland’s logistics infrastructure has significant potential to increase the transshipment of Ukrainian agricultural products, provided there are investments in specialized terminals and more efficient use of existing border crossings.
From August 1 to 18, Ukraine exported 900,000 metric tons of agricultural products, which accounts for 31% of the volume that could have been exported had there been unimpeded access to logistics, said Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
“The biggest drop was in grains. A total of 522,000 metric tons of grain were exported, which is only 20% of the required volume. Exports of oilseeds during this period totaled 163,000 metric tons, vegetable oil—128,000 metric tons, and meal—86,000 metric tons. In these sectors, export rates are in line with balance sheet figures,” Vysotsky noted.
According to him, alternative logistics routes can, in terms of volume, support the export of oilseeds and their processed products. As for grains, alternative routes can primarily be used to export products from border regions.
He added that due to changes in logistics, transportation costs have increased by approximately $50 per metric ton.
According to Vysotsky, exports of oilseeds and their processed products remain profitable, whereas for grains—with the exception of border regions—they are unprofitable.
Overall, via alternative routes from August 1 to 18, about 45% of agricultural products were exported via the Danube, 45% by rail, and another 7–8% by road.
As previously reported, according to data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Ukraine exported 590,000 metric tons, or 30% of its needs, from August 1 to 12.
The program of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine calls for increasing timber harvesting to 15.5 million cubic meters in 2027, boosting production in the woodworking and furniture industries by 5%, and raising the share of high-value-added products in exports by 10%.
According to the program, in 2026 the government plans to adopt the Strategy for the Development of Ukraine’s Woodworking and Furniture Industries through 2030 and approve an operational plan of measures for its implementation in 2026–2028.
In 2027, the government plans to introduce uniform rules governing the timber market for all permanent forest users and forest owners, regardless of ownership status.
In addition, in 2026–2027, the government plans to implement the European Union Regulation on the Trade in Goods Related to Deforestation and/or Forest Degradation (EUDR), as well as a system for due diligence and geospatial traceability of timber origin based on state information systems.
Furthermore, the corporatization of the state-owned enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is scheduled to be completed in 2027, along with the introduction of a permanent moratorium on the sale of state-owned shares.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture, the total volume of timber harvested in Ukraine in 2025 amounted to 11.7 million cubic meters.
As previously reported, on August 17, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Government Action Program. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk stated that parliament will consider the Program in the near future in accordance with established procedure.
The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers’ action plan calls for increasing the share of processed goods in Ukraine’s agricultural export mix to 63% by 2027 and raising the volume of agricultural exports by at least $4 billion.
To achieve this goal, the government plans to expand the use of state support mechanisms for Ukrainian agricultural producers of goods with a significant share of imports and to open new markets for at least 10 new commodity lines by 2027.
It is also planned to introduce the position of agricultural attaché in 2027, along with a new instrument to guarantee loans for processing through the Partial Agricultural Loan Guarantee Fund.
A separate priority is to increase the level of processing of agricultural waste and raw materials—particularly from crop and livestock production—into biofuels.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy’s programmatic goal is to transform the agricultural sector into a highly productive, technologically advanced, innovative, and investment-attractive industry with high added value and a significant share of processing.
As reported, on August 17, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Government Action Program. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk stated that parliament will review the Program in the near future in accordance with established procedure.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture, by the end of 2025, processed products accounted for 47.8% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports, while raw materials accounted for 52.2%. In 2024, this ratio stood at 40% and 60%, respectively.
Agricultural exports, agricultural sector, EXPORTS, GOVERNMENT, PROCESSING
As of August 14, 2026, Ukraine had exported 3.093 million metric tons of grains and legumes since the start of the 2026/27 marketing year (MY, July–June), which is 9.8% more than the 2.818 million metric tons exported by the same date last year.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, citing data from the State Customs Service, total exports of grains, legumes, and flour reached 3.097 million metric tons, compared to 2.826 million metric tons on the same date a year ago.
By crop type, wheat exports fell by 14.9%—to 1.291 million metric tons from 1.517 million metric tons, respectively; barley exports fell by 26.8%, to 339,000 metric tons from 463,000 metric tons, while corn exports rose by 69.6%—to 1.403 million metric tons from 827,000 metric tons a year earlier.
As was the case last year, no rye was exported.
In addition, wheat flour exports since the start of the 2026/27 marketing year have decreased by 48.3%, totaling 3,000 metric tons compared to 5,800 metric tons as of the same date last marketing year.
In total, as of August 14, Ukraine had exported 348,000 metric tons of grains and legumes, including 219,000 metric tons of wheat, 40,000 metric tons of barley, and 89,000 metric tons of corn.
From August 1–13, Ukraine exported 790,700 metric tons of agricultural products, compared to 1.849 million metric tons during the same period in July—a decrease of 57.2%, according to the brokerage firm Spike Brokers.
According to the firm, the value of exports fell by 37.3% to $478.8 million, compared to $763.8 million during the corresponding period in July.
“The main factor limiting August’s pace is concentrated in the grain segment. At the same time, the geography of logistics is changing: the flow through seaports is significantly lower than in July, while road crossings and western rail corridors are operating at a higher intensity,” the report notes.
From August 1–13, 130,100 metric tons of agricultural products were exported via road border crossings, compared to 119,500 metric tons during the corresponding 13 days in July—an increase of 8.9%. Exports via Hungary saw the largest increase—32.9%—followed by Slovakia (28%), Romania (14.1%), and Poland (3.7%). The flow through Moldova was close to July’s level, declining by approximately 1.9%.
At the same time, as of August 12, 435,800 metric tons of grain cargo had been transported by rail, which is 46.9% less than during the corresponding period in July and 52.1% less than in August 2025. The average daily load for the first 11 days of August was 31.3 thousand metric tons—38% lower than in July and 49% less than a year ago.
The export component of grain rail shipments fell by 72% compared to July, to 201.7 thousand metric tons. Of this volume, 63% passed through border crossings, and 29% went through the ports of Odesa. During the reporting period, only 75,200 metric tons of grain were transported through the ports of Odesa, compared to 656,400 metric tons during the corresponding period in July (-88.5%).
At the same time, the average daily throughput of grain railcars through western border crossings during the first 11 days of August rose to 139.6 railcars, compared to 71.3 railcars in July—an increase of 96%.
According to Spike Brokers, the main growth came from the Romanian and Polish routes—up to 44.7 and 44.4 railcars per day, respectively. Transit to Slovakia increased to 26.9 railcars per day, while transit to Hungary decreased to 23.6 railcars.
As of August 12, there were 8,718 thousand railcars at border crossings, compared to 7,858 thousand previously. In particular, the number of grain cars rose from 369 to 693, or by 87.8%.
Railway exports of vegetable oil totaled 41.5 thousand metric tons, which is 0.9% more than the corresponding July figure, with 89% of the volume passing through land border crossings.
Spike Brokers notes that the sea-rail corridor remains the weakest link in the current logistics chain. As of August 13, the average daily unloading rate bound for the ports of Greater Odesa had dropped to 146 railcars, while 262 grain cars were en route to the ports. There were 1.32 thousand grain cars heading toward the Danube ports.
