Blockade of the Grain Agreement: the port of Constanta will help Ukraine with exports

The port of Constanţa in Romania will be able to handle more than 20 million tons of grain if the “grain corridor” is closed.

The port of Constanta is considering various scenarios for the development of the situation surrounding the Grain Agreement. If the “grain corridor” is closed, the port will be able to handle 12 million tons of corn and about the same amount of wheat. We are talking about Romanian, Serbian and Ukrainian grain, writes Latifundist.

Cargill trader Aleksandru Nyagu told the international conference EURO GRAIN HUB Exchange & Forum that most market participants hope that the “grain corridor” in the Black Sea will continue to work. However, the Port of Constanţa is considering scenarios with different transshipment volumes in case of its closure.

“We hope that the corridor will not be closed. Maybe there will be a short stop for a few weeks or a month between seasons, but it will most likely continue to work. But even if the “grain corridor” is closed, Ukraine will be able to export 50 million tons of grain in the next marketing year, because logistics through neighboring countries have improved significantly,” says Aleksandru Nyagu.

Read also: Why Romania slows down the development of the port of Constanta.

According to him, if Ukrainian exports through the ports of Great Odesa stop, about 6 million tons of corn and 4 million tons of wheat from this year’s harvest will arrive in Constanta.

As previously reported by USM, according to forecasts in 2023, a significant increase in harvest is expected in the Danube countries. Thus, this summer, Constanta may be overflowing with grain from Ukraine and neighboring countries. Cargo turnover may grow to 90-100 million tons, which will cause overloading of the port infrastructure.

Certificate. The port complex occupies 3.9 thousand hectares. Constanta consists of four zones and two satellite ports. Depths range from 7 to 19 meters. Constanta has 156 berths with a draft depth of 7-19 meters, 14 of them are intended for transshipment of grain with a draft of 7-13 meters. Currently, 140 piers are operating.

The port has 10 grain terminals with a storage capacity of 1.8 million metric tons.

Constanta terminals can simultaneously store 1.5 million tons of agricultural products.

Bulk carriers with a maximum capacity of 220,000 tons are loaded in the port.

There is an opportunity to transship grain from a river barge to a ship, which should facilitate work with Ukrainian agricultural products in the future.

The total cargo flow of the port of Constanta last year amounted to more than 70 million tons. Grain occupies almost a third of this volume.