Ukraine has supplied an additional 3,850 tons of wheat flour to Syria as part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s humanitarian program Grain From Ukraine, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.
“Together with 500 tons in December, this will provide 60 thousand Syrians for six months,” he wrote on social networking site X.
Sybiga assured that Ukraine continues to support the Syrian people and food security in the Middle East.
As of the end of February of the 2023/2024 marketing year, which started on July 1, Ukraine has already exported more than 29.1 million tons of grain, legumes and flour, Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, said on Telegram.
He clarified that in terms of major crops, 15.8 million tons of corn, 11.5 million tons of wheat, and 1.6 million tons of barley were supplied to foreign markets.
“Compared to the same date last year, there is a lag of almost 2.6 million tons (although, for example, wheat was shipped a quarter of a million tons more than last year),” the head of the parliamentary financial committee said.
Mr. Hetmantsev explained the slowdown in grain exports by the fact that for a month and a half, in July and the first half of August last year, when sea exports were forced to pause due to Russia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul grain initiative, Ukraine had to develop an “alternative grain corridor.” In August 2023, thanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it became available, and in the first months, foreign shipowners were restrained and cautious, looking closely at whether the new route was really safe, he recalled.
“In November 2023, some ‘friends and neighbors’ began to create obstacles for us on the land border under artificial and far-fetched pretexts, and these processes are still ongoing,” Hetmantsev wrote.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee expressed confidence that Ukraine would soon completely close the current gap.
He emphasized that in recent months, Ukraine has returned to almost pre-war export volumes, 90% of Ukrainian grain is shipped to foreign customers by sea, and dependence on the land corridor on the western border is decreasing.
“Thus, Ukraine will continue to play the role of one of the guarantors of global food security, while at the same time replenishing the treasury with serious foreign exchange earnings (in the near future, agricultural products will remain a key item of Ukrainian exports),” Hetmantsev summarized.
In 2022/23 marketing year (MY), Ukrainian flour millers increased flour exports to 149.7 thsd tonnes, which is 20.1% higher than in the pre-war 2020/2021 MY, when it reached 124.6 thsd tonnes, said Serhiy Serhii Sakirkin.
“That is, in a year when the sea was safe, containers (the cost of which was constantly cried about) of bran were in demand, the overstocking of warehouses could not be imagined even in bad dreams – but only 125 thsd tonnes. And here the sea is only in Romania and further, wild bets on trucks to ports and European consumers… Logistics is a nightmare! And 150 thsd tonnes!” he wrote in the review for APK-Inform analytical agency.
According to the report, in 2021/2022 MY the flour exports were the record low and amounted to 69.8 thsd tonnes. In the current marketing year, the export of Ukrainian flour is expected to reach 180 thsd tonnes, according to the industry association.
Considering the dynamics of flour exports by months, Sakirkin recalled that from March to June 2022, there was an “unclear state of affairs”.
“Then it became clear that we had to work and work in a new way. In July, we squared our shoulders and continued to work almost without disruption. Rare stability in contrast to the previous two years,” the expert said.
According to him, the price of flour last season was influenced by the global price factor and very expensive logistics.
“The terms of delivery, which include payment for transportation, are represented by other prices, but this is not a profit, unfortunately… By the way, the price dynamics of 2022/23 MY, if we do not take absolute figures, is very similar to the dynamics of the pre-war 2020/21 MY,” the expert said.
He emphasized that the war had a significant impact on the geography of Ukrainian flour supplies. Previously, North and Central Africa, especially the UAE, dominated, but now seven out of 10 countries, where the largest volumes of Ukrainian flour were shipped, are European countries.
“Let’s say the usual annual volume is exported to Moldova. But other countries, if they ever got Ukrainian flour, it was in tiny quantities. Now it is thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands of tons,” Sakirkin wrote.
The industry association specified that 33.94 thousand tons of flour were supplied to Moldova, which accounted for 23% of total exports, 22.16 thousand tons (15%) to Poland, 14.7 thousand tons (10%) to Palestine, 14.7 thousand tons (10%) to Romania, and 14.7 thousand tons (10%) to tons (10%), Romania – 12.98 thousand tons (9%), Croatia – 10.77 thousand tons (7%), Hungary – 7.96 thousand tons (5%), Turkey – 7.55 (5%), Israel – 6.87 thousand tons (5%), Slovakia – 6.35 thousand tons (4%) and the Czech Republic – 4.43 thousand tons (3%).
The top ten largest exporters were only producers, including Kalush Milling Company, Novaagro LLC, Khmelnytsky Milling Company, Vinnytsia Milling Company No. 2, Vlad LLC, and others, the Millers of Ukraine Association noted.
Ukrainian mukomols and cereals producers began to master and gain a foothold in new markets and increase export volumes, in 2023 they can supply 150 thousand tons of flour to foreign markets, said the chairman of the association “Ukrpischeprom”, director of the union “Mukomols of Ukraine” Rodion Rybchinsky.
“In calendar year 2021 we exported 102 thousand tons of flour, in 2022 the active export began in September and reached 80 thousand tons. In the five months of this year, we have already exported 74,000 tons. With such dynamics, we see the possibility of exporting 150 thousand tons of flour by the end of the year,” he said during a discussion on the prospects of exports during the war, held by the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting.
According to his information, the war has made significant changes in the export of flour and cereals and bran. Previously these products were exported by sea from the main shipment bases in Kherson, Nikolaev, and Odessa. Traditional importers of Ukrainian flour and cereals were UAE, Palestine, Somalia, Israel, and bran – Turkey, where 95% of them were sent by sea.
The war has made significant adjustments to the geography of sales of these products, and today the largest importers of Ukrainian flour are Moldova, Poland, Palestine, Romania, Croatia and Turkey, said Rybchynskyy.
In the EU countries, in particular Poland, Romania, Germany, Spain, Portugal, are actively exported cereals. Last year 68 thousand tons of cereals were exported to foreign markets, while during five months of 2023 – 38 thousand tons.
In this case, Rybchinsky noted a change in the ways of sending flour and cereals for export.
“We do not use the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the Danube ports. There the rent of one grain warehouse at a distance of 5-10 km from the quay wall can cost $100 thousand per month. Therefore, logistics related to work on the Danube, eat up all the possible earnings,” said the expert, adding that the main export of flour and cereals is carried by road and only 15% by rail.
According to the head of the industry association, exporters now have problems when crossing Western borders. Despite the electronic queue, cars with products stand in queues for 2-3 weeks.
“This has led to the loss of substantial contracts with Polish and Romanian retail chains, where Ukrainian suppliers have not been able to ensure timely delivery of products. Currently, Ukrainian mills have to work mainly with industrial processors,” Rybchynsky explained.
At the same time, he noted that Polish pasta made from Ukrainian flour has already appeared on the Ukrainian market.
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.
Ukraine since the beginning of the 2019/2020 marketing year (MY, July-June) has reduced production of bread and bakery goods by 12.3%, and in March this year compared to March 2019 by 13.8%, the UkrAgroConsult analytical agency said on its website.
According to the agency, production of flour since the beginning of the current MY has decreased by 3.1%, and in March this year from March of the past year by 8.8%.
UkrAgroConsult noted that in March production of bran also decreased by 8.3%, and feed by 6.1%.
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