The grain export corridor set up by the EU and European rail freight companies, combined with the unlocking of Ukrainian ports to transport grain by sea, seem to have a positive effect. Ukrainian Railways reported record grain export numbers since the war’s beginning, since, in August, the company transported 1,016 million tons of agricultural products.

It is still a long way to go until reaching the 4 million tons of transported agri-products that Ukraine recorded in pre-war times. Yet, the latest numbers provide some space for optimism both for the war-torn country and the rest of the world that faces the possibility of a food crisis without Ukrainian produce.

At least, this is the perspective of Valery Tkachev, deputy director of the department of commercial work of Ukrainian Railways (UZ), who shared the figures in a meeting with representatives of the agricultural market, as The Odessa Journal reported.

Substantial improvement

Of course, it is not time for fanfares and celebrations but for harder work. This is what Tkachev seemed to imply when he mentioned that there is a long way to reach pre-war numbers but, at least, some progress is taking place.

In plain figures, the increase in exported grain volumes between July-August is not striking but shows that the engines kicked off and more grain might find its way out of Ukraine in the coming months.

The difference between the two months is 99,000 tons of grain-in July, UZ transported 917,000 tons, and in August, 1,016 million tons, with no final numbers for the current month published yet. Out of the volumes exceeding a million tons, 549,000 of them were transported by rail and overland border-crossings, while the remaining 467,000 tons were transported by rail to Ukrainian ports and then by sea to the rest of the world.

Considering that the grain exported from Ukraine in March summed up to 416,000 tons, the improvement is substantial and could set the floor for more volumes to come.

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