The operation of the grain corridor has been extended!

After long negotiations, at the last moment, the russian side nevertheless agreed to continue the operation of the grain corridor.

1) During the last almost 10 months, the corridor has become the main way of Ukrainian grain exports. During this time, 30.2 million tons of agricultural products were exported through the corridor, which is 52% of all exports.

2) In recent days, the passage of ships through the grain corridor has been particularly difficult. For several days, inspections were carried out on 2-3 vessels or none at all. Some fleet owners could not stand long and costly queues and redirected ships to other destinations.

3) From the suspension or delay of the corridor, the russian side had preferences in the form of higher world prices and reduced competition on the market, where russia has to realize last year's record harvest. According to rosstat data, at the beginning of February, only in agricultural organizations, the balance of unsold grain was one and a half times higher than last year. Also, the blocking of Ukrainian exports has such long-term consequences for Ukraine as a decrease in foreign currency inflows and risks of further reduction of the harvest in the future due to financial problems.

Forecast. Continuation of the corridor somewhat facilitates the realization of grain, but means conservation of existing problems. Including:

1) There is a risk of untimely execution of the contract due to inspection queues, the use of various pretexts for the delay of ships;

2) Uncertainty regarding the further extension of the agreements, which will negatively affect the contracting of the new crop;

3) The new 60 days will end just in time for the peak harvest of wheat and other early grains, which will mean additional pressure on domestic prices.