Ukraine grain exports leap in the year since shipping deal with Russia expired

In the year since the United Nations-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative fell apart, Ukraine has performed remarkably well in securing seaborne exports.

New data from Greek shipping platform Signal (see chart below) shows how Ukraine has managed to increase grain exports in the 12 months since the shipping deal it had in place with its invading enemy, Russia, came to an end. 

The data reveals that Spain and China have become the top destinations for Ukrainian grain, each accounting for 20% of the total exports, followed by Egypt with a 10% share.

Per vessel class category, panamax and handysize vessels have absorbed a higher percentage of the grain shipments compared to supramax vessels. 

The route ships take over the past year sees vessels leave the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny to go either via the Danube or hugging the coastlines of Bulgaria and Romania to head to international markets. 

The successful export data has been built on an audacious military campaign, using drones to pare back the strength of the Russian navy in the Black Sea. 

According to the Turkish daily Haberturk, Turkey has been holding talks with Russia and Ukraine to reopen the grain corridor in the Black Sea. However, the talks have not yet yielded a result.