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BUCHAREST, March 19 (Reuters) — Ukraine shipped 1.33
million metric tons of grains through the Romanian Black Sea
port of Constanta in the first two months of the year, the port
authority said on Tuesday.
Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, and
Constanta has become Kyiv’s largest alternative export route
since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Constanta Port data, which does not include volumes handled
through the smaller Romanian Danube ports and rail and road
transit to southern European states, showed that 894,000 tons of
Ukrainian grain left port in February.
Grains arrive in Romania by road, rail and barge across the
Danube river. While transit via Romania’s Black Sea port of
Constanta had slowed in January, road and rail exports were
picking up speed as a result of EU-funded rail investments,
European Transport Commissioner Adina Valean told Reuters in
February.
Valean also said Ukrainian officials were talking with
Romanian counterparts about installing three temporary floating
buoys in the port of Constanta, which would add an additional 1
million metric tons to the port’s monthly transit capacity.
Constanta recorded its highest grain exports in 2023 thanks
to a surge in shipments from Ukraine and ongoing EU-funded
infrastructure projects. The port shipped 36 million metric tons
of grain last year, up 50% from the previous year, with
Ukrainian grain accounting for roughly 40% of the total.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Louise Heavens)