Kyiv | Reuters — Ukrainian wheat exports have been curbed as Russia’s recent heavy attacks on Black Sea ports and energy facilities have forced the shutdown of some grain export terminals, Ukrainian farmers’ union UAC said on Wednesday.
Ukraine is a major global wheat grower and exporter, shipping about 70 per cent of its wheat harvest for export via the country’s Black Sea ports. Food exports account for the majority of Ukraine’s total exports.
Russia has increased attacks on the port hub in the southern Odesa region this month, leaving about a million households without power after one of the attacks.
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UAC said in its weekly report that Ukraine had exported 359,150 metric tons of wheat by mid-December, out of 1 million tons contracted for export for the month.
The union said that some export terminals have halted operations and the port is operating at 20 per cent of capacity.
“We see that for the second week in a row, one of the central ports has been unable to start up and operate normally,” UAC said.
“Traders have no idea what to do. It’s dangerous to store grain at the port, and logistics are not working properly – there are constant power outages and constant disruptions with locomotives.”
Ukrainian state railway Ukrzaliznytsia said last week that Russia had attacked the port of Pivdennyi in Odesa region as well as the rail infrastructure that delivers cargo to the port.
Analyst Barva Invest said this month that Ukraine’s maritime export terminals had reduced grain intake owing to constant Russian attacks.
Ukraine’s economy ministry said last week that the country’s wheat exports had fallen to 7.5 million tons so far in the 2025/26 July-June season, against 9.2 million tons for the same period of the previous season.
The ministry also said that Ukraine would not restrict wheat exports in 2025/26 because of a large harvest and low export rates at the beginning of the season.
