Ukraine’s seaports are not yet at full capacity and are able to increase the potential of grain transportation, said Yuriy Lytvyn, Head of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), at a meeting of the Grain Club of the Ukrainian Grain Association on Tuesday.
“The potential of transportation, in particular, from Odesa, is significantly higher. The proof of this is the record results of the Ukrainian “grain corridor”, which was opened after the termination of the “grain initiative” in December 2023,” he said.
According to Lytvyn, the figures for grain exports in January 2024 are slightly lower than the previous month. However, January is the month of the traditional decline in sea transportation.
At the same time, he noted an increase in the delivery of grain cargo to the ports of Greater Odesa by both rail and road.
“Today, the port of Chornomorsk has increased its car handling fivefold compared to the pre-war period. However, unfortunately, bulk cargo is not very good for Chornomorsk itself. There are some difficulties with the organization of the process,” said the USPA head.
He also emphasized that traders and local authorities are doing everything possible to speed up the process and reduce the time for unloading vehicles.
Speaking about the work of Pivdennyi port, Lytvyn noted that it is being used at 30-48% of its capacity to receive grain cargo.
“The Ministry of Infrastructure, together with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and us (USPA – IF-U), are working to expand the acceptance of cargoes that may be damaged (during the shelling of port infrastructure by the Russian side – IF-U). I mean container and ferry transportation,” Lytvyn said.
Answering a question about the fate of the port in Mykolaiv, the head of the USPA explained that the agency pays much attention to its fate and constantly consults with the military.
“The military leadership is unanimous in its position: due to security issues, unblocking the port of Mykolaiv is impossible. The ports of Mykolaiv region are under direct enemy fire from potentially dangerous areas. The military is not giving any forecasts (on the timing of their unblocking – IF-U),” he said.
The head of the USPA also reminded that Ukraine still has the occupied Kherson port, which has not yet had a single employee of the agency on its territory – it is closed.
As reported, the USPA said that Ukrainian seaports are ready to work in any case of destruction and can increase exports of agricultural goods.
Ukrainian seaports handled 14.964 million tonnes of cargo in January 2022, which is 49% more than in January 2021.
According to a message of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) on the website, in January, handling of export cargo amounted to 11.4 million tonnes (46% more compared to the same period in 2020), import cargo – 2.67 million tonnes (70.7% more), transit cargo – 689,220 tonnes (11.9% more), and coastal cargo – 192,950 tonnes (3.4 times more).
The largest handling volumes in January fell on grain cargo and ore – 6 million tonnes (twice as much) and 3.06 million tonnes (7% more), respectively. The handling volume of ferrous metals amounted to 1.32 million tonnes (3.1% less). Handling of coal in January increased by 5.5 times and amounted to 865,000 tonnes.
In addition, in January of this year, 82,042 TEU containers were handled, which is 8.4% more than in the same period last year.
Over January 2022, almost all ports have handling volumes higher than last year: Pivdenny – 5.1 million tonnes (37.9% more), Mykolaiv – 3.1 million tonnes (57.9% more), Chornomorsk – 2.7 million tonnes (90.3% more), Odesa – 1.8 million tonnes (13% more), Olvia – 811,200 tonnes (3.8 times more), Reni – 217,800 tonnes (4 times more), Kherson – 196,000 tonnes (48.8% more), and Berdiansk – 136,900 tonnes (67.8% more).
