International
Ukraine grain exports will be capped at 2m. tons per month if ports remain blocked
Ukraine will only be able to export a maximum 2 million tons of grains a month if Russia refuses to lift its blockade of the country's Black Sea ports, Taras Vysotskyi, Ukraine's first deputy minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, said on Tuesday.
Ukraine is trying to export its vast stores of grain by road, river and rail at present to help to avert a global food crisis, but these routes face severe capacity constraints.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the country was able to export up to 6 million tons of grains a month. Since the grain shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports stopped, more than 20 million tons of grain are stuck in the country's silos.
"I think we reached the limit. The biggest amount we can export is about 2 million tonnes a month," Vysotskyi, speaking via video link, told participants at an International Grains Council (IGC) conference in London.
He said even if Russia's port blockade is lifted Ukraine would need about six months to demine the waters around its Black Sea ports, meaning the world would remain short of grains for some time.
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