Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Price jumps: exports of wheat, sunflower seeds, and soybeans from Ukraine

Let’s track the prices as of the end of June 2025 for the main grain and oil crops exported from Ukraine, as well as fluctuations in their value on the world market.

The price of wheat (France, FOB) was 235 USD/t, according to market operators on June 25, 2025. This is 1 USD less than last week, 6 USD more than the previous month, and 3 USD more than the previous year. The price of wheat (Ukraine, 2nd grade, CPT) for the central regions (June 26) was 192 USD/t. This figure remained unchanged during the week, decreased by 15 USD over the month, and increased by 45 USD over the year. For ports, the amount was 206 USD/t, which is 3 USD less than a week ago and 18 USD less than a month ago, but 19 USD more than a year ago.

According to the International Grains Council, the price of corn (USA, FOB) as of June 25 was 192 USD/t. This is USD 8 less per week and USD 16 less per month, but USD 3 more per year. The price of corn (Ukraine, CPT) on June 26 for the central regions was USD 204/t. It did not change during the week, but decreased by USD 4 per month and increased by USD 73 per year. For ports, it was 216 USD/t (also unchanged from the previous week, down 16 USD from the previous month, and up 3 USD from 2024).

Let’s pay attention to the forecast for global corn production in 2025/26 MY. It has been reduced by 1 million tons to 1,276 million tons, compared to 1,225 million tons in the current season. However, the forecast for global consumption has been increased by 1 million tons to 1,269 million tons. Therefore, the estimate of final corn stocks has been lowered by 2 million tons (to 282 million tons). This will exceed the current season’s figure by 7 million tons,” said grain market analyst Alexander Korenitsyn.

As for the price of barley (France, FOB) as of June 25, it stood at USD 216/t. This is USD 6 less than a week ago and USD 5 less than a month ago, but USD 11 more than a year ago. Let’s analyze the price changes for barley (Ukraine, CPT). As of June 26, the price was (central regions) – 171 USD/t. This is 3 USD more per week and 46 USD more per year, but 30 USD less per month. For ports, the price is 188 USD/t, which is 6 USD more per week, 40 USD more per year, but 2 USD less per month.

Prices for major grain and oil crops exported from Ukraine, end of June 2025

According to Oleksandr Serhiyovych Korenitsyn, the price of sunflower seeds in the EU (Rotterdam, FOB) as of June 25 was USD 655/t. The changes are as follows: +5 USD per week, -14 USD per month, and +170 USD per year. The price of sunflower seeds (Ukraine, CPT) on June 26 (central regions) was 509 USD/t. This is 8 USD less per week and 16 USD less per month, but 109 USD was added to the price per year. For ports, the cost is 507 USD/t. The price fell by 6 USD per week and rose by 9 USD per month and 148 USD per year. A ton of sunflower oil (Ukraine, FOB) costs 1,111 USD as of June 26.

The cost increased by $8 per week and by the same amount per month.

The calculation of price fluctuations for soybeans is based on its cost as of June 25 (Brazil, FOB) – $420/t. It decreased by $10 per week and by $16 per year, but increased by $15 per month.

The price of soybeans (Ukraine, CPT) in the central regions was 349 USD/t on June 26, which is 8 USD less than a week ago, 4 USD less than a month ago, and 23 USD less than in 2024. The price for ports is 368 USD/t. It decreased by 14 USD, 13 USD, and 10 USD over the week, month, and year, respectively,” said analyst Alexander Korenitsyn.

The price of rapeseed (France, FOB) on June 25 was $557/t. Price changes: down $9 per week, up $7 per month, and up $55 per year. The cost of rapeseed (Ukraine, CPT) on June 26 for central regions is 497 USD/t (up 106 USD per year), for ports – 531 USD/t (up 110 USD per year).

 

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Epicenter to build grain terminal worth up to $270 mln in port of Pivdennyi

The Epicenter group of companies and the family of People’s Deputy Anatoly Urbansky intend to build a grain terminal in the port of Pivdennyi (Odesa region) with a transshipment capacity of 5 million tons of grain cargo per year at an estimated cost of $160-270 million, according to latifundist.com. The first announcement about the future terminal was made in November 2024 by Petro Mikhailishin, CEO of Epicenter K. In April 2025, the information was confirmed by Svitlana Nikitiuk, head of the group’s agricultural division.

The publication claims that the terminal construction project is not just a business plan. In 2025, Casablanca Shipping Limited (Cyprus), founded by Epicenter K, acquired a 32.61% stake in Promtechnizatsiya (Odesa).

The remaining 16.48% of the legal entity’s shares belong to Anatoliy Urbansky, and 25.46% each to Kateryna and Denys Urbansky. Promtechnizatsiya leases land plots in the water area of the Pivdennyi port and near the local highway T1606.

The total area of the plots for construction is about 32 hectares. This area is sufficient for the construction of a station for unloading railcars and motor vehicles near the highway, after which the grain will be sent through a transport gallery to silos and a transshipment terminal.

According to the publication, the construction of the terminal is still at the design stage, which was developed in 2024. Its estimated cargo turnover is 5 million tons per year, and the total capacity of the silo warehouses is 250,000 tons.

According to the project, a private railway station with a capacity of up to 3 million tons per year and the ability to handle up to five freight trains (50-70 cars) per day will be built to unload cars. The land plot for the railway station is 10 hectares. A wagon unloading station with a capacity of 2,000 tons per hour and a truck unloading station with a capacity of 1,000 tons per hour are planned for the facility.

The unloading station with main elevators will be connected by a 1,600 m long conveyor gallery with a capacity of 1,200 tons per hour. From there, the grain will be transported to silos: about 50 “banks” with a total capacity of 250,000 tons are planned, located on a 10-hectare site.

There are plans to build a berth up to 350 m long and 16 m deep. Agricultural products will be transshipped by two tower cranes with a capacity of 1,500 tons per hour. The equipment for unloading, transporting, storing, and transshipping grain is owned by Promtehinovatsiya.

According to port officials familiar with the construction progress, the project is being implemented successfully. The terminal is scheduled to be launched in 2026. Despite the technical complexity of the project, the publication’s interlocutors are optimistic about the prospects for the timely completion of construction. At the same time, market participants are reluctant to estimate the payback period of the project.

Epicenter K LLC, which includes Epicenter Agro, was established in 2003 and opened its first hypermarket in Kyiv in December of the same year. It has a network of shopping centers of the same name in Ukraine. Since 2016, it has been developing its agricultural business. It cultivates over 1,670,000 hectares in the Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, and Kyiv regions. The group includes 20 livestock farms and 15 elevator complexes with a total storage capacity of 2 million tons.

The agricultural holding’s own production of agricultural products is about 1 million tons. In 2025, Epicenter Agro launched its own trading business. Anatoliy Urbansky is a member of parliament, a member of the For the Future parliamentary group, and a member of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax, and customs policy.

Since 2005, he has been engaged in entrepreneurial activities in ship repair companies. Since 2009, he has been a manager for management and administrative activities and a consultant for ship repair and maintenance at Dunaysudoremont JSC. In 2011, he was elected a member of the supervisory boards of PJSC Dunaysudoremont and PJSC Izmail River Port Dunaysudorservis. In 2015, he was elected a member of the Odesa Regional Council.

 

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Nibulon signed contract with port of Chornomorsk for transshipment of up to 1 mln tons

One of Ukraine’s largest grain market operators, Nibulon, has signed a contract with the seaport of Chornomorsk for the transshipment of up to 1 million tons of agricultural products in preparation for the new marketing year, the grain trader’s press service reported on Facebook.

The agricultural holding noted that the signing of this contract was a decisive step in the formation of a flexible logistics model that will allow Nibulon to maintain continuity of exports even without access to its own terminal. In addition, despite the surplus of transshipment capacity on the market, the company managed to achieve a balance of interests. Furthermore, optimized regional logistics will help create added value for Ukrainian farmers.

“Our volume and stability are tools that protect farmers. We work with over 3,000 small and medium-sized agricultural producers who, thanks to efficient logistics, receive competitive purchase prices, allowing them to plan and develop even in difficult conditions,” emphasized Sergey Kalkutin, Nibulon’s logistics director.

The company also emphasized that negotiations with other port operators are currently ongoing.

Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82,000 hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries around the world. In 2021, the grain trader exported a record 5.64 million tons of agricultural products and delivered record volumes to foreign markets in August (0.7 million tons), in the fourth quarter (1.88 million tons), and in the second half of the year (3.71 million tons).

It is currently operating at 32% of its capacity, has created a special unit for demining agricultural land, and has been forced to move its central office from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.

 

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Cargo turnover of Greater Odesa ports increased 2.6 times in 2024

In 2024, the ports of Greater Odesa increased their cargo handling by 2.6 times compared to 2023, to 79.9 million tons, while the Danube ports reduced this figure by 1.8 times, to 17.3 million tons, said Oleh Kiper, Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration.

“In 2024, the ports of the region handled 97+ million tons of cargo, which is 57% more than in 2023. In particular, the ports of Greater Odesa handled 79.9 million tons, and the ports of the Danube – 17.3 million tons,” he said in a statement.

Kiper noted that these were mainly agricultural products destined for different countries of the world.

In addition, he said that during the period of operation of the sea corridor, from August 16, 2023, about 3.5 thousand vessels left the ports of Greater Odesa.

Earlier it was reported that in total, in 2023, the ports of Greater Odesa handled 30.6 million tons of cargo: the port of Chornomorsk – 11.41 million tons, Pivdennyi – 10.8 million tons, Odesa – 8.41 million tons. The sea corridor exported 12.8 million tons of cargo.

In 2023, the Danube ports handled 32 million tons of cargo.

The total cargo turnover of Ukrainian seaports in 2024 reached 97 million tons.

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Cargo turnover of Ukrainian ports increased by 70% in 2024

The cargo turnover of Ukrainian seaports in January-November 2024 reached 89.8 million tons, which is 69.7% more than in the same period last year.
“In January-November 2024, Ukrainian seaports handled 89.8 million tons of cargo, which is significantly higher than the volume of 52.9 million tons achieved in the same period in 2023. This achievement demonstrates the resilience and efficiency of the port industry even in a difficult situation,” the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) said on Facebook on Monday.
Agricultural products traditionally remain the mainstay of cargo traffic, with a share of 55 million tons, the report said.
At the same time, 7.5 million tons of cargo were handled in November, up 41% year-on-year. A month earlier in October, 8 million tons of cargo were handled.
Earlier, the USPA reported that the cargo turnover of Ukrainian ports from January 1 to November 17, 2024 increased to 86.8 million tons, of which 53.5 million tons were exported.

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Ukrainian ports handled 8 mln tons of cargo in October, 85% through ‘sea corridor’

Ukraine’s ports handled 8 million tons of cargo in October, of which 6.8 million tons, or 85%, were handled through the ‘sea corridor’, State Enterprise (SE) Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported on Tuesday.
The port’s performance in October is 11.5% higher than in September, when 7.178 million tons of cargo were handled, said Timur Tkachenko, Deputy Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure.
More than half of the cargo handled by ports in October was agricultural. They accounted for 5 million tons, which is almost 3.3 times more than in the same period last year, the USPA said.
Grain cargo accounted for more than half of the volume of cargo handled through the sea corridor in October – 4.5 million tons out of 6.8 million tons. The volume of ore cargo transshipment reached 1.4 million tons, which is almost twice as much as in October 2023.
Earlier it was reported that in January-October 2024, cargo handling increased by 78.1% compared to the same period in 2023 – up to 82.1 million tons from 46.1 million tons.

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