The Western Border Takes 94% of Rail Grain Exports

Only 3.77 thousand tons of grain were delivered to the ports of Great Odesa by rail in six days.

In the first six days of October, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 184.4 thousand tons of grain for export — 9.3% more than in the same period in September. This was reported by the deputy director of the UZ commercial department Valeriy Tkachev, Elevatorist writes.

Almost 94% of this volume fell on the western bordwrites pressings. In total, 272.1 thousand tons of grain cargo were transported by rail during this time, which is 1.1% more month-on-month.

The geography of flows continues to shift westward. 166.2 thousand tons of grain were delivered to the western border crossings — 34.4% more than in September. In contrast, only 14.5 thousand tons went to the Danube direction, to Izmail and Reni, that is, 65.7% less. The ports of Greater Odessa received only 3.77 thousand tons by rail.

The reason for the decline in the Danube direction is the damage caused by Russian attacks on the cities in Belgorod-Dnistrovskyi. Because of it, on September 27, UZ introduced conventional restrictions on the dispatch of grain trucks to 18 stations in the Odessa region, in particular “Izmail-export” and “Reni-export”. An alternative route runs through Moldova, but then the wagons need about 26 days to reach the ports.

The scale of the reorientation to the west is indicative: if in July an average of 71 wagons with grain were transferred through the western crossings per day, then in October – already 336.3. This is 4.7 times more. The largest number goes to Poland — 106 wagons per day, followed by Hungary (89.2) and Romania (72.7).

However, the average daily grain load in October decreased to 37.2 thousand tons — almost 21% less than in September. The UZ explains this by the accumulation of wagons at western crossings and restrictions on the Danube. Currently, 3,459 wagons with grain are moving towards the western borders, through Moldova and to Danube ports.

At the same time, according to Tkachev, over the past two weeks, strikes on traction substations and rolling stock have been recorded almost daily.

In total, for the nine months of 2026, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 22.16 million tons of grain cargo — 5.4%, or 1.14 million tons, more than a year earlier. Of these, 18.87 million tons were exported, which is 1.3% higher than last year.

Meanwhile, as USM wrote, new procedures are being prepared at Sulina to speed up the passage of ships.