Ukraine ships crops, metal to Europe and Asia via new corridor

Ukraine’s commodities are again heading directly to traditional buyers across Europe and Asia via its new shipping corridor in the Black Sea.

Three ships are en route to Spain and one each to the Netherlands, Egypt and Singapore, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows. Ships that left Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have already arrived in Romania, Israel, Italy and Bulgaria with cargoes like grain and metals. 

The trips show how Ukraine’s risky bet to go it alone in the Black Sea appears to be paying off, and could allow shipments to ramp up, securing much-needed revenues. Kyiv set up its own temporary route from ports in Greater Odesa after Russia exited a safe-corridor deal backed by the United Nations and Turkey in July. 

Still, volumes so far are much smaller than under the grain export agreement, when China was the top destination for Kyiv’s exports, followed by Spain, Turkey and Italy. Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry declined to comment on the developments.

Mainstream shipowners remain wary. Risks — and insurance premiums — are very high. Russia has previously threatened to treat any ships sailing to Ukraine as potentially carrying weapons, and in August, opened fire on one to force it to stop for checks.

At least eight more ships are in or near ports in Greater Odesa and could depart with cargoes in the next few days, data shows.