US says Ukraine grain exports near pre-war levels, According to a US official, Ukraine is close to matching the amount of grain it shipped before the Russian invasion this month.
Ukraine was one of the world’s leading exporters of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil–sending out five million metric tons monthly before conflict broke out. Exports nearly stopped after Russia invaded on February 24th, playing a role in worldwide food prices increasing sharply which has caused major hardships for low-income countries.
US says Ukraine grain exports near pre-war levels
Ukraine is on track to export as much as four million metric tonnes of agricultural products in August, thanks to “intense international collaboration,” according according to a senior US State Department official.
After months of failed negotiations, Russia and Ukraine have reached a first wartime agreement through the mediation of Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, with assurances for ships to depart from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. The State Department official said that shipments have been more than 720,000 tons out of the ports using 33 ships in recent weeks. A European initiative to transport Ukrainian grain by river, railway, and road has so far been more successful.
The so-called “Solidarity Lanes” constructed by the European Union sent additional cars, including trucks, to the border to overcome difficulties such as Ukrainian wagons’ incompatibility with European rail gauges.
every month, an official said. As part of the agreement negotiated in Istanbul, Russia will also be guaranteed shipment of food and fertilizer without being subject to sanctions.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres recently requested unhindered access, stating that a global food crisis may occur next year if Russian fertilizers do not make it to international markets.
The United States has placed broad sanctions on Russia due to the war in Ukraine, but agricultural products are exempt from these sanctions. Some have accused Moscow of trying to divert attention away from its own role in causing food shortages. In response, last week the United States said it would give $68 million to the World Food Programme in order buy 150,000 metric tons of Ukrainian wheat.
The UN agency warned on Friday that some 22 million people face starvation in Horn of Africa countries where the rising costs of imported food have exacerbated the effects of climate change. Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia have suffered the unprecedented failure of four straight rainy seasons.
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