Transporting Ukrainian grains posing logistical challenges -Romanian president

Ukraine has sent some 601,115 tonnes of grains to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, with an additional 120,294 tonnes en route, port authorities told Reuters earlier this month. European countries will consider providing temporary granaries to Ukraine, which faces a shortage of silos for new grain crop, the Ukrainian agriculture ministry said on Tuesday.

Romania faces a logistical challenge of "epic proportions" and requires new infrastructure to help transport Ukrainian grain to global markets, President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday. With Ukraine's sea ports blocked since the war started more than three months ago, the world's fourth-largest grain exporter has been forced to send shipments by train via its western border or through its small Danube river ports into Romania.

But the grains it has sent by barge, train, and truck to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta amount to roughly 3% of the 20 million tonnes it needs to move before the new harvest starting at the end of July to avoid bottlenecks and forestall a global food crisis. "As for transporting grains from Ukraine to global markets, it is clear we are facing a logistical challenge of epic proportions," Iohannis said after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on an official visit to Romania.

"We must first see where we are. These logistical routes, this entire large-capacity transport logistics do not exist. We are in a position to develop transport capabilities, maybe not from zero but from a pretty low level to a very high level." Iohannis said a broad-gauge train line compatible with Ukraine's must connect the border to one of its Danube ports.

Barge transport on the Danube needs to be made easier and grain loading capacities at its Black Sea port of Constnata increased, Iohannis said. Ukraine has sent some 601,115 tonnes of grains to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, with an additional 120,294 tonnes en route, port authorities told Reuters earlier this month.

European countries will consider providing temporary granaries to Ukraine, which faces a shortage of silos for a new grain crops, the Ukrainian agriculture ministry said on Tuesday.

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