KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian grain exports in the first 17 days of October were just 2.4% lower than in the same period of 2021 despite the closure of several seaports and the Russian invasion, agriculture ministry data showed on Monday.
The country’s grain exports have slumped since February as the war closed off Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, driving up global food prices and prompting fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East.
Three Black Sea ports were unblocked at the end of July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
The ministry’s data showed that Ukraine has exported 2.12 million tonnes of grain, mostly corn and wheat, so far in October, versus 2.17 million tonnes in the same period of October, 2021.
The data also showed that Ukraine has exported a total of 10.8 million tonnes of grain so far in the 2022/23 July-June season compared with 16.5 million in the same period of 2021/22.
This season’s volume includes 3.99 million tonnes of wheat, 5.88 million tonnes of corn and 896,000 tonnes of barley.
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(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)