The Association of Ports of Ukraine appealed to the government regarding the situation on the Danube

The Association of Ports of Ukraine “Ukrport” appealed to the Prime Minister Denys Shmygal regarding the situation with the transportation of goods through the Danube.

Last year, Ukrainian cargo traffic through the Danube ports became a record. The government announced that the capacity of the cluster will be increased from 33 million to 35-40 million tons. However, the situation is critical at the moment, says the Association’s message.

“After a rapid “warming up” of the market, there was an equally rapid “cooling down”. Given the huge supply of the fleet and the lack of cargo, freight rates have fallen by 2-2.5 times compared to 2023 and in some cases are below pre-war levels. The river transportation market suffered the biggest blow. “Shipping companies are forced to work with negative profitability in order to maintain market share,” the document says.

The Association expressed the opinion that a long period of low rates may lead to the degradation of the potential of the Danube cluster.

“If Ukraine needs to redirect the export flow to an alternative direction again, it will be difficult to restore logistics capacity. Danube logistics cannot remain efficient, being in the status of a “fire team”, always ready to come to the rescue. As long as the war continues and military risks remain, a certain part of exports should be sent by alternative logistics to preserve Ukraine’s ability to diversify export directions,” the association noted.

The Prime Minister was called upon to initiate a discussion on the issue of supporting the Danube logistics complex with the involvement of representatives of the stevedore sector, shipping companies, JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”, exporters, the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Ukrainian Grain Association and others.

It will be recalled that since the beginning of April, Ukraine exported 3.5 million tons by sea. During this period, exports across the Danube amounted to 456,000 tons.