Without the maritime corridor, Ukraine could lose up to half of its iron ore exports, — UZ
26.08.2026 - 16:12
The cessation of the maritime corridor could lead to a significant reduction in Ukrainian iron ore exports.
This was reported by NV with reference to Valeriy Tkachev, Deputy Director of the Commercial Department of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia.
According to him, even with the maximum increase in supplies to Europe, Ukraine could lose about 500 thousand tons of ore exports per month.
“In terms of ore, we will definitely lose almost half of our exports, well, about 30-40%,” Tkachev said during an online discussion on the consequences of the Black Sea blockade organized by the Center for Economic Strategy.
Ukraine exports about 30-33 million tons of iron ore every year. Almost 95% of this volume is transported by rail. About 49% of the ore was sent through the ports of Greater Odessa, 47% through the western border crossings, and another approximately 4% through the Danube ports.
According to Tkachev, the cost of iron ore on the Chinese market is currently about $95-105 per ton. At this price, transporting products to the port of Constanta actually deprives exports of economic sense.
At the same time, the European market is unable to absorb the entire volume of Ukrainian ore, which was previously sent for export by sea. Because of this, potential losses can range from 30% to 50%.
The situation with the export of ferrous metals, according to the representative of UZ, is somewhat better.
Recently, Ukraine has exported about 8 million tons of ferrous metals. About 40% of these volumes were transported by rail, after which 59% was sent through the ports of Great Odesa, 35% – through the western borders and about 6% – through the ports of the Danube.
Tkachev noted that metallurgists have more opportunities to reorient products to the European market than ore exporters. At the same time, restrictions remain here, in particular the CBAM mechanism and additional duties.
“Therefore, it is also a problem for our exporters to export and sell these 5.5 million tons of metal to Europe. But they say that there are more chances there than for ore,” he noted.
Earlier, USM reported that wheat exports from the Black Sea are falling, but the world market has not yet reacted with an increase in prices.
