Ukraine's harvest is strong but unsellable

Farmer Oleksandr Chumak has had a strong yield in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine this season. But after eleven years growing crops there, he has had enough.

Millions of tonnes trapped by war

Storage facilities across Ukraine and Russia are filled with millions of tonnes of produce that would normally ship to Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Instead, it is trapped in the warring countries.

Black Sea attacks make shipping impossible

Russian drone and missile hits on Black Sea targets intensified over the summer and into fall, making it impossible to insure commercial ships. Kyiv's retaliatory attacks mean Russian exports are also stuck.

Chumak cannot sell at a profit

Chumak says that around eighty percent of his grain cannot currently be sold at a profit, and he is out of cash.

Farmers face impossible choices

Andrii Dykun, chairman of the Ukrainian Agri Council, says farmers need to pay taxes and rent but cannot sell anything.

“For the farmers, it's very difficult because we need to pay taxes, we need to pay rent for land, and now we are not able to do this because we are not able to sell anything.”

Why plant if there are no profits?

Dykun asks why farmers should plant if they have no profits at all today. If storage is full, it makes no sense to do farm operations in spring because it is just a waste of…

“So why should we plant if today we have no profits at all?”

Banks doubling emergency farm loans

PrivatBank, Ukraine's biggest lender, disbursed one point five three billion hryvnia, or thirty four point two million dollars, in working capital finance to agribusinesses between June and August, more than double the seven hundred eighteen…

Farmers shifting away from corn and barley

Chumak will significantly scale back planting for next year, avoiding corn and barley altogether, and instead opt for crops which require less fertilizer.

Ukraine and Russia supplied half the world's sunflower oil

Between them, Ukraine and Russia supplied the world with more than half of its sunflower oil, nearly a fifth of its barley and fourteen percent of its wheat in the years leading up to the…

Exports down fifty eight percent year on year

Around ninety percent of Ukraine's main agricultural exports typically run via the Black Sea. In August this year, its grain and legume exports totalled nine hundred eighty one thousand tonnes, down about fifty eight percent…

Reopening Black Sea would crash prices fast

The reopening of Black Sea ports would unleash a wave of cheap supply that would flip the market fast with little warning, said Benoit Fayaud, senior manager for grains and oilseeds analysis at Expana.

“flip the market fast... with little warning”

No alternative to Black Sea routes

Andrii Dykun of the Ukrainian Agri Council stressed that there was no alternative to the Black Sea routes when it came to pricing.

“So without Black Sea ports, it will not work for us at all.”

Global food security hangs in balance

With fatal Black Sea attacks continuing into October, prospects of a ceasefire look slim, even as Turkey ramps up efforts to broker a deal due to the risk to global food security.