Rail grain shipments to ports fell by half in October

During October, 9.8 thousand tons were delivered to the ports of Great Odesa by rail, compared to 20.8 thousand tons a month earlier.

This is evidenced by the data of the weekly review of Spike Brokers.

The rail transport of grain to the ports of Odesa for 20 days of October amounted to only 9.8 thousand tons, compared to 20.8 thousand tons for the same period in September.

In contrast, the Danube direction is growing. Transportation to the ports of the Danube, including inland Izmail and transit through Reni, amounted to 151 thousand tons – 20% more month-on-month.

In total, 1.054 million tons of grain cargo were transported by rail in 20 days of October. This is 13.4% more than in September, but 30.6% less than last year. The average daily load was 43.3 thousand tons. The recovery has slowed down – by September the figure is 8% lower, compared to last year’s level – by 46%.

Export shipments of grain reached 675.9 thousand tons, which is 23.5% more month-on-month, but 45.3% less in annual terms. 548.7 thousand tons, or 81.2%, passed through land crossings. Port routes accounted for about 127.2 thousand tons, or 18.8%.

The automobile canal to the Danube, on the contrary, is slowing down. From October 1 to 22, 779.3 thousand tons were passed there, the pace decreased by about 20%. Izmail port received 448.4 thousand tons of cars, Reniysky – 226.6 thousand, Orlivka – 97.3 thousand, Ust-Dunaysky – 7 thousand tons. Wheat provided 518.6 thousand tons, or two-thirds of the Danube flow.

On the western border, the average daily grain transfer through the four main routes for 21 days was 340 wagons, compared to 324.2 in the previous report. The accumulation of grain wagons was almost unchanged – 4,373 as of October 21, compared to 4,422 a week earlier.

Total agricultural exports for October 1-22 amounted to 2.172 million tons for $1.139 billion – 4.8% more in tonnage and 8% in value than for the same period in September. However, the average daily rate this week fell to 91.3 thousand tons compared to 111.1 thousand tons in the previous week, i.e. by 17.8%.

The main slowdown was caused by wheat. The pace of its clearance decreased from 39.9 to 26.1 thousand tons per day, or by 34.7%. In total, 740.2 thousand tons of wheat, 200 thousand tons of corn and 26.9 thousand tons of barley were cleared in three weeks.

Prices at port bases in general also sagged. Thus, corn CPT Odesa fell in price to $160 per ton, wheat 11.5% – to $170, feed – to $155. At the same time, corn FCA Chop held $200, due to which the difference between Chop and Odesa widened from $35 to $40 per ton.

As USM recently wrote, deeper processing of agricultural products can reduce the dependence of exports on ports.