Congestion of grain railcars heading toward the ports of Greater Odesa is gradually decreasing, supported by higher unloading rates at seaports, which currently stand at 1,122 railcars per day. This was reported by Valerii Tkachov, Deputy Director of the Department of Transportation Technology and Commercial Operations at Ukrzaliznytsia, during an online meeting with market participants, ProAgro Group reports.

According to Tkachov, as of February 12, the number of loaded grain wagons en route to the ports of Greater Odesa declined to 9,336 units, down from 9,850 a week earlier.

“We are gradually clearing these bottlenecks. The situation remains difficult due to strikes on infrastructure — hub stations, traction substations and the energy system. Nevertheless, we continue working and are slowly improving performance,” he said.

During the first ten days of February, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 932.4 thousand tonnes of grain, which is 2% (+15.3 thousand tonnes) more than in January, but 11% less than in the same period last year. Average daily grain loading amounted to 72.25 thousand tonnes, down 10% month-on-month.

In export traffic, 846.8 thousand tonnes of grain were shipped, 3% more than in January. Of this volume, 762.7 thousand tonnes (nearly 90%) were delivered to seaports, while 84.1 thousand tonnes (10%) were routed to western border crossings.

As previously reported, the rental cost of Ukrzaliznytsia grain wagons increased sharply this month by UAH 750, reaching UAH 2,000 per day excluding VAT.

Source: USM