Ukrainian agricultural exports may rise to 4 million tons in August

Ukraine’s agricultural exports are likely to rise to around 4 million tons in August from 3 million tons in July, thanks to a U.N.-brokered deal to lift the blockade of Ukrainian seaports, the deputy head of Ukraine’s agricultural council said on Monday.

In televised comments, Denis Marchuk, whose council represents agricultural producers, said that Ukrainian farmers will continue to face funding shortfalls and that a third of them will not participate in the 2022/2023 winter planting season later this month despite new export opportunities.

Ukraine’s agricultural exports have plummeted since Russia invaded the country and Russia’s closing of its ports on the Black Sea, causing global food prices to rise and raising fears of food crises in Africa and the Middle East.

At the end of July, the blockade of three ports on the Black Sea was lifted under the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

But despite the reopening of the ports, Ukraine’s agricultural exports remain much lower than before the war, when Ukraine exported up to six million tons of grain per month.

Cereal exports for the 2021/22 season, which ended on June 30, rose 8.5 percent to 48.5 million tons, thanks to strong shipments before the Russian invasion that began on February 24.