The pace of corn harvesting in Ukraine remains low, which, combined with the rising cost of logistics, restricts the flow of grain to ports. This forces traders to raise prices for spot purchases in order to form export batches amid supply shortages.

Despite the dry weather favoring the active harvesting of soybeans and sunflowers, farmers are postponing corn harvesting — awaiting the natural reduction of grain moisture. As of October 30, 10.359 million tons of corn have been harvested from 1.684 million hectares, which constitutes 40% of the area (+9% per week). For comparison, last year on this date, 76% of the area was threshed and 18.3 million tons were harvested. The average yield is currently 6.15 t/ha, which is slightly higher than in the 2024 year (6.1 t/ha), so the forecast of 32 million tons looks achievable.

Against the backdrop of limited deliveries to ports, export demand prices for corn increased by 100–150 UAH/t per week — reaching 9750–9900 UAH/t (205–207 $/t) with November delivery. For December–January, traders declare lower levels — 202–205 $/t.

At the same time, the cost of delivering grain to ports — both by rail and road — has increased by 10–20% or 200–400 UAH/t. This reduces farmers’ motivation to transport corn to ports, so part of the volumes are sold to processors at a price of about 9000 UAH/t delivered to the factories.