freight rates

Coaster tonnage shortages and delays on the Sulina Canal continue to drive up the cost of grain shipments from Ukrainian ports to Egypt.

Freight rates for grain transportation from Ukrainian Danube ports have increased sharply due to the shortage of available tonnage and the increase in waiting times for passage through the Sulina Canal.

As of August 31, grain transportation to Egypt from Ukrainian Danube ports cost $90–95/t — $60–65/t more than from Romanian Constanta.

There are almost no orders for “handysize” and larger vessels, while Danube costers are still finding cargo and continue to increase in price, albeit more slowly.

Shipowners almost do not consider flights from the ports of Great Odesa, while the prices of boats from the Danube continue to rise sharply.

The increase in freight rates in the Black Sea is associated with an increase in insurance, fuel and operating costs, as well as risks for crews.

The number of “handysizes” and “supramaxes” ready to enter the ports of the Great Odesa region has fallen to a minimum after repeated attacks on merchant shipping.

Ukrainian grain traders are still hardly investing in their own vessels, which is exacerbating the crisis caused by Russian strikes on ports.

The cost of transporting cargo by barge from the Ukrainian Danube ports of Reni and Izmail to Constanta, Romania, has almost doubled since the beginning of July, to about $28 per ton.

Idle ships during air raids are adding an additional percentage to freight from Ukrainian ports.