Romanian Black Sea port to keep shipping Ukrainian grain

CONSTANTA: At the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta dockers have worked for months to ship out Ukrainian grain in addition to their usual loads from Romania and its land-locked neighbours.
Shipments arrive constantly.
The grain, which is poured onto conveyor belts in Constanta terminals, makes the air smell sweet and covers workers seeking shade under the steel silos in a fine layer of golden dust.
The export route is one of the few left open to Ukraine, which before the conflict with Russia was one of the world’s top grain suppliers.
Exporters have shipped 1.46 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain through Constanta since Russia invaded the country in February and the war halted shipments from Ukraine’s own Black Sea ports.
The first grain-carrying ship to leave the Ukrainian port of Odesa since the war began under a safe passage agreement sailed on Monday.
Operators in Romania expect they will continue to ship Ukrainian grain as it will take time to fully implement that deal.
The grain arrives by road, rail or barge from Ukraine’s Danube river ports of Reni and Izmail.
The safe passage deal has been seen as a glimmer of hope in a worsening global food crisis.
Turkey, which brokered the deal together with the United Nations, expects roughly one grain ship to leave Ukrainian ports each day as long as the agreement holds. Romanian port operator Comvex said it will fill two ships later this week , one carrying 30,500 tonnes of Ukrainian and Romanian corn headed to Libya and the second 45,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn to Iran.

– Reuters