Ukrainian Danube river ports exported a record three million tonnes of food in May due to a slowdown in exports through its key Black Sea ports. The push for alternative export routes has taken on urgency during the war after Russia blocked Ukraine’s traditional export route via the Black Sea and only a limited volume is shipped out under a deal mediated by Tukey and the United Nations. A quarter of Ukraine’s agricultural exports currently passes through its Danube ports, while half exits via its Black Sea ports and another quarter traverses Ukraine’s western land border.
Three Ukrainian Danube river ports processed a total of 5.5 million tonnes of all cargo in pre-war 2021, and the share of Danube ports in Ukraine’s overall port turnover was between 2.5% and 4.2% in the last four pre-war years. A senior Ukrainian official said that Kyiv aimed to begin work to make its Danube shipping canal deeper as early as this year to expand its alternative routes to export grain. Ukraine has already increased the depth of its southwestern Bystre Canal on the Danube River to 6.5 metres from 3.9 metres, and aims for 7.2 metres to increase food exports from its river ports.
„This is an absolute record for the ports of this region,” the Ukrainian seaport authority said. “Even now, world-renowned companies are investing in the development of port facilities and fleet on the Danube, which allows us to constantly increase the volume of exports and imports.”
