The temporary corridor was established by Kyiv following Russia’s withdrawal from a wartime agreement designed to ensure safe grain exports.
A growing number of ships have been streaming out of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat of attack and floating explosive mines. Door To Door Sea Freight
The fledgling shipping corridor was launched on August 10 after Russia pulled out of a UN-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war.
“It was tight, but we kept working … we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners,” said Roman Andreikiv, the general director of a storage facility in central Ukraine, which a seen a growing number of companies turn to as they struggle to export their food around the world.
Ukraine’s new corridor, protected by the military, has allowed Andreikiv to “free up warehouse space and increase activity”.
It's a boost for Ukraine’s agriculture-dependent economy, bringing back a key source of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products to parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where local prices have risen and food insecurity is growing.
"We are seeing renewed confidence among commercial operators keen to take Ukrainian grain cargoes,” said Munro Anderson, head of operations for Vessel Protect, which assesses war risks at sea and provides insurance.
Ihor Osmachko, general director of Agroprosperis Group, one of Ukraine’s biggest agricultural producers and exporters, says he's feeling “more optimistic than two months ago.”
“At that time, it was completely unclear how to survive,” he said.
Since the company’s first vessel departed in mid-September, it says it has shipped more than 300,000 metric tons of grain to Egypt, Spain, China, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Tunisia and Turkey.
The main hurdle for the new shipping corridor is the risk to the vessels. Russia, whose officials haven't commented on the corridor, warned this summer that ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports would be assumed to be carrying weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that allies had agreed to provide ships to help his country protect commercial vessels in the Black Sea but that more air defence systems were needed.
“Air defence is in short supply,” he told reporters Saturday at an international food security summit in Kyiv. “But what’s important is that we have agreements, we have a positive signal and the corridor is operational.”
Following a deadly missile strike on the port of Odesa where a Liberian-flagged commercial ship was hit this month, insurers, brokers and banks teamed up with the Ukrainian government to announce affordable coverage for Black Sea grain shipments, offering shippers peace of mind.
Despite such attacks, Ukraine has exported over 5.6 million metric tons of grain and other products through the new corridor, US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink tweeted Friday.
Before the war, however, it was almost double that per month, according to Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka.
“The way that they’re transporting right now, it’s certainly much more expensive and time-consuming,” said Kelly Goughary, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.
“But they are getting product out the door, which is better than I think many were anticipating with the grain initiative coming to an end,” she said.
Since the war started, Ukraine has struggled to get its food supplies to countries in need. Even during the year-long UN deal, when Ukraine shipped nearly 33 million metric tons of food, Russia was accused of slowing down ship inspections.
Now that the Ukrainian military decides when it is safe to sail, it "imay incur additional costs, but it is still more predictable than it was before,” Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association said.
Ukraine’s shipping corridor also allows vessels to travel less in dangerous areas compared with the grain deal and avoid those often-delayed inspections, said Anderson of Vessel Protect.
The goal for the new shipping corridor is to export at least 6 million metric tons of grain a month, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said. It has a lot of work to do: Ukraine exported 4.3 million metric tons of grain in October through all routes.
Cheapest Door To Door Shipping Container Sea “We maintain cautious optimism, based on the fact that we have been fighting before and will continue to fight further,” he said.