Ukraine grain deal won’t fix warzone logistics, top producer says

A deal to restart exports of grain from Ukraine through its deep sea ports could be a game changer, the chairman of Ukraine’s top food producer MHP said on Thursday, but he warned that getting produce to export terminals still presents major challenges.

The war in Ukraine has caused a surge in global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel, and fertilizer, with Russia’s blockade of sea ports leaving dozens of ships stranded and some 20 million tonnes of grain stuck in silos at Odessa.

Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are due to sign a deal next week aimed at resuming Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, following talks in Istanbul.

While the potential agreement was positive, execution will be challenging, with ports needing to be de-mined and infrastructure damaged in Mykolaiv and Odessa, MHP chairman John Rich told Reuters in an interview.

“We still have to ship the grain to the ports, and infrastructure is difficult, we still have to do so under fire – Mykolaiv and Odessa have been hit by missiles in the past 72 hours,” Rich said.

“I think we (can expect) a fair bit of time and water under the bridge before we can have confidence this is going to solve the problem in the short-term. Medium-term maybe it can relieve things, but I think we have (to play a) waiting game.”

Ukraine and Russia are major global wheat suppliers, and Russia is also a large fertilizer exporter. Ukraine is a significant producer of corn and sunflower oil.

Source: Money Times with information from Reuters

To read the full original article, please go to: https://www.moneytimes.com.br/acordo-para-graos-da-ucrania-nao-consertara-logistica-em-zona-de-guerra-diz-companhia-mhp/

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