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Ukraine's grain exports by means of Romania's Constanta down by half in Jan-August

Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta recorded a drop in grain exports in the first eight months as deliveries from Ukraine fell by approximately half, the port authority informed Reuters on Wednesday.

The port shipped 20.18 million metric tons of grain in January-August, it said, down 9.1% on the year.

Constanta stays Ukraine's primary alternative route for grain given that Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, in addition to its main route for fuel imports.

But Ukraine has managed to increase grain exports through its own ports by developing a shipping corridor that hugs the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria after Russia withdrew from a U.N.-backed export effort in 2015.

Constanta Port data, which does not consist of volumes managed through smaller sized Romanian ports and exports by rail and road, showed that 120,000 lots of Ukrainian grain left port in August. A lot of deliveries arrive in Constanta by barge on the river Danube, which had low levels in August due to drought, partially hindering transport.

Earlier this month Ukraine implicated Russia of using strategic bombers to hit a civilian grain vessel with a missile in the Black Sea in NATO member Romania's maritime financial zone, which trader said increased issue over tightening up supply in the Black Sea export zone.

(source: Reuters)