Ukraine grain exporters carve out new route via Baltic Sea

Ukrainian grain shippers have carved out a fresh export route—via the Baltic Sea—to send their crops abroad. 

The country has been hunting for alternative paths for its crops as the war with Russia cuts off vital shipments from ports dotting the Black Sea, stoking global food prices and raising worries over hunger. Producers have resorted to sales by land instead, ferrying grain by railway, road and river to European Union neighbors.

An initial Ukrainian corn cargo sent via Romania to Spain—a major buyer—was recorded in April, and Spain now has received its first cargo from Poland, according to Ramon Castro, a spokesman for Puerto A Coruña. The vessel Alppila arrived there Monday carrying 18,000 tons of corn that were hauled by trucks from Ukraine, he said. 

The new shipping route may help ease Ukraine’s massive grain backlog and buoy feed supplies for EU livestock farmers, who face surging costs. Still, Ukraine’s sales remain well short of their normal pace, and the country is expected to run out of room to store coming harvests unless temporary facilities are built.