Ukraine’s grain exports fell 30% at the start of the 2022-2023 season

Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry said Monday (July 11) that grain exports in the first seven days of July, the first month of the new 2022-2023 season, fell 30% year on year to 402 thousand tons.

Grain exports for the 2021-2022 season, ending June 30, rose 8.5% to 48.5 million tons, driven by strong shipments ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Ukraine’s grain exports have fallen since the start of the war because the country’s ports on the Black Sea, a major shipping route, are largely closed, driving up global food prices and raising fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East.

The ministry’s data showed that exports in July included 311,000 tons of corn, 71 thousand tons of wheat and 17,000 tons of barley.

The government said earlier that Ukraine could harvest at least 50 million tons of grain this year, compared to a record 86 million tons in 2021, due to losing land to advancing Russian forces and lower yields.