In June 2022, Ukraine exported 2.7 million tons of agricultural products through alternative routes. This is 30% more than in May.

As for the export structure of these products in June, it looked as follows:

• grain crops: 1.4 million tons (corn — 86%, wheat — 10%, barley — 3%), growth compared to last month: +23%;
• oil crops — 642.5 thousand tons (sunflower seeds — 84%, soybeans — 14%, rapeseed — 2%), growth: +52%;
• vegetable oils — 298.5 thousand tons (sunflower oil — 94%, soybean oil — 6%), growth: +45%;
• cake after extraction of vegetable oils — 139.1 thousand tons (sunflower — 81%, soybean — 19%), increase: +20%.

“Oil crops, and more precisely, sunflower seeds, demonstrate the highest rates of growth. For the Ukrainian market, sunflower seeds have never been an export-oriented crop. Almost the entire volume was processed in Ukraine, and sunflower oil was already exported at that time. The situation has now changed, and the export of seeds itself has started to grow,” the association “Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business” notes.

Regarding the geography of exports, it has changed significantly since the beginning of the war. Before the war, the main buyers of Ukrainian products were China, India, the Netherlands and Egypt. Currently, the main buyers of agricultural products are European countries located near Ukraine: Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, as well as Turkey.

“Although the volume of exports via alternative routes is increasing every month, the pace is still low and cannot replace sea routes. Therefore, it is necessary to give priority to the export of agro-industrial products when carrying out shipments by non-sea routes in order to preserve such an important direction of the economy of Ukraine until the sea ports are unblocked. Without establishing the export of all produced products, farmers will not have enough funds to collect already sown crops, and even more so — for the next sowing in 2023,” the UKAB concluded.

Source: https://agroportal.ua/