Ukraine faces grain storage crisis as it struggles to export

Ukraine is expected to face a significant shortage of storage facilities in the 2022/23 season due to a sharp drop in exports resulting from the Russian invasion, said consultancy APK-Inform.

Since Moscow launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine in late February, the country has been forced to export grain via trains on the western border or from its small ports on the Danube River, rather than by sea.

APK-Inform said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s exports could amount to just 45.5 million tonnes from the record 2021 crop of 86 million tonnes, while grain and oilseed stocks at the end of the current season could reach an all-time record of 21.3 million tons.

“This volume is 4.2 times greater than that of the previous crop and will not allow freeing up a significant portion of storage capacities for the new crop,” he added.

Ukraine is generally a major global producer of grains and oilseeds, but its exports have dropped sharply.

The Agriculture Ministry said last week that the country exported 763,000 tonnes of grain in the first 29 days of April, up from 2.8 million tonnes in April 2021.

APK-Inform said in a report that Ukraine could harvest 55.9 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds in 2022 and the storage shortage could total 16.3 million tonnes.

Data from Ukraine’s statistics office show that the country’s total storage capacity is 75 million tonnes, which includes 44.5 million tonnes held by agricultural producers.

But the consultancy said that part of that capacity is located in the conflict area and this reduces the available volume to around 61 million tonnes, meaning that 35% of its capacity is already occupied by the 2021 crop.

“At the same time, the pace of the sowing campaign and weather conditions contribute to increasing grain and oilseed production forecasts in Ukraine, which will further complicate the situation without the proper sale of existing reserves,” APK-Inform said. .