Agricultural exports from Ukraine continued to fall in September, as rising shipments of wheat and sunflower oil (SFO) failed to offset lower exports of corn, barley and rapeseed.
At the same time, exports of grains, oilseeds and by-products were still higher than a year ago, customs data show.
Ukraine exported about 4.62mn t of grains, oilseeds and by-products in September, down from 4.73mn t in August but up from 3.64mn t in September 2023.
Shipments from the deep-sea ports of Pivdennyi-Odesa-Chornomorsk totalled 3.56mn t in the reporting month, or about 77pc of Ukraine's total agricultural exports, down from 3.65mn t in August.
Agricultural exports from river Danube ports continued to decline, falling to 432,839t in September, below the 464,932t exported in August and well below the 2.28mn t in September 2023.
Grains
Ukraine shipped 3.07mn t of grains in September, down from 3.36mn t in August but up from 2.02mn t in September 2023 (see chart).
Corn exports fell to 525,883t last month, from 645,853t in August and 627,608t a year ago. Italy was the largest buyer of Ukrainian corn in September, followed by the Netherlands, Greece and Libya, according to statistics based on export declarations.
Barley exports fell to 228,358t last month, from 469,495t in August, but were above the 120,198t a year earlier. China and Saudi Arabia were the main recipients of Ukrainian barley, together buying about 65pc of the barley declared for export in September.
In contrast, wheat exports rose to 2.31mn t in September, from 2.24mn t in August, and were higher than the 1.27mn t exported a year earlier. Spain remained the largest buyer of Ukrainian wheat in September. Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Italy ranked in the top five.
Oilseeds
Ukraine exported 1.55mn t of oilseeds, vegetable oils and meals in September, up from 1.4mn t in August but down from 1.61mn t a year earlier.
Soybean exports rose to 246,112t in September, from 145,593t in August, because of the arrival of the new crop, and were higher than the 210,399t in September last year (see chart).
Ukraine's rapeseed exports totalled 705,371t last month, down from 794,206t in August but above the 649,820t shipped a year earlier.
Belgium was the largest buyer of Ukrainian rapeseed, followed by Germany and the UK.
Exports of sunflower seed (SFS) fell to just 563t in September, almost half the level of the previous month and well below 6,488t a year earlier.
SFO exports rose to 348,717t, from 199,101t in August but were slightly below the 359,964t in September 2023. India was the main destination for Ukrainian SFO in September, followed by the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Spain.
Exports of sunflower meal (SFM) fell slightly to 233,978t in September, from 237,696t in the previous month and 376,586t a year earlier. China was the largest buyer of Ukrainian SFM, taking around one-third of the product declared for export in September.
