Ukraine Reestablishes Grain Exports Through New Black Sea Corridor

Ukraine has started exporting grain through a new corridor along the Black Sea coast. (Venti Views)

On September 15, Ukraine restarted grain exports to EU members after a temporary ban that began in May expired without renewal.  Ukraine has, however, begun sending these shipments along a new corridor in the Black Sea, relatively secure from Russian forces. As of September, two ships, the Resilient Africa and Aroyat, traveled along the western coast of the sea, taking a longer route through Romanian and Bulgarian territorial waters to avoid Russian attack. Ukraine has additionally increased exports using the Danube River.

This development arrives over two months after Russia exited the Black Sea Grain Deal on July 17, 2023, claiming that the deal favored Ukrainian exports and disadvantaged Russian agriculture. Russia’s exit from the deal also protested Western sanctions it has faced since launching its illegal full-scale attack on Ukraine in February of 2022.

Ukraine is the fifth biggest exporter of grain in the world, accounting for nearly ten percent of all exports. The grain it exports is mainly used to feed some of the world’s poorest and most food-insecure countries. Forty percent of the grain used by the UN’s World Food Program came from Ukraine before the beginning of the war. The Black Sea Grain Deal forced Russia to ease its military blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. The deal has allowed over 30 million tons of grain to exit Ukraine since its signing on July 22, 2022.

Understandably, grain exporters still express hesitancy in shipping through an active war zone. To help ease such pressures, a British insurance company, Broker Miller, and a technology company, Clearwater Dynamics, have established a wartime insurance plan for ships traveling through the Black Sea. This agreement creates a monitoring system that allows companies to track their ships and ensures a better understanding of the risks their vessels face in real-time.

While a substantial improvement, this new grain corridor only temporarily mitigates the larger problem at hand. Despite holding insurance, exporters now have to take lengthier—and therefore costlier—routes through the Black Sea. This has tangible and severe impacts on grain exports. Oceanbolt, a software and analytics firm, tracked 192,000 tons of grain shipped from Ukraine in September, a sharp decline from prior levels. In May, while the Black Sea Grain Deal remained in effect, the tonnage approached 700,000. This substantial discrepancy continues to pressure the global food system and worsen food insecurity for thousands around the globe.

Although many in the international community praise Ukraine’s efforts to continue the shipment of essential sustenance, they persist in pressuring Russia to return to the negotiating table and stop using food as a weapon.