Purchase prices for corn are falling due to the stoppage of receiving grain in the Black Sea ports

The stoppage of the grain corridor did not come as a surprise to traders, as the Russians have sharply reduced the number of vessel inspections since September 20, resulting in a queue of more than 170 vessels heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports for loading at the Bosphorus.

On October 31 and November 1, some ships were still allowed to pass, but already on November 2, the movement of all ships was prohibited. Turkey said that in order to avoid risks, it will provide its own ships for loading, but Ukraine expects that civilized countries will point out to Russia the inadmissibility of piracy against civilian ships in international waters.

Due to the delay of the ships, the grain terminals were overcrowded, so it was necessary to stop receiving grain, in particular, corn, which during the last three months was the main commodity for transshipment.

Many wagons with corn have accumulated in the port area waiting for unloading, which creates a shortage of wagons, as was the case in the spring, when grain trucks stood in queues for 2-3 months in the direction of the ports of Romania and Poland.

Traders are returning to established export routes through the Danube ports and western borders, as demand from EU countries is quite high given the significant reduction in their own harvest.

Purchase prices for corn in the Black Sea ports are practically not declared, and in the Danube ports they have decreased to UAH 7,200-8,300/t or $170-205/t with delivery, although delivery to the Danube ports is 500-1,000 UAH/t more expensive than before of Odessa As a result, prices on an ex-elevator or ex-farm basis also decreased by UAH 300-500/t to UAH 5,500-6,000/t, although in the western regions they are supported by demand from the EU.

Against the background of increased offers, prices for deliveries to the border with Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia decreased to 230-250 €/t, and for deliveries to the ports of Romania - to 270-275 €/t.

March futures for corn on the exchange in Paris increased by 3.7% to 344.5 €/t during the week against the background of the blocking of exports from Ukraine, which is the main supplier of grain to the EU.

In 2022/23 MR, as of October 26, compared to the same period last year, the EU doubled the import of corn - from 4.26 to 9.04 million tons, in particular from Brazil - from 2.7 to 5 million tons, Ukraine - from 0 .96 to 3.4 million tons.

From July 1 to October 31, Ukraine exported 6.8 million tons of corn, including 2 million tons in October, while last year these figures were 2.3 and 0.9 million tons, respectively.

The delay in harvesting reduces the pressure of new crop offers on prices, but dry weather in the near future will allow work to be accelerated. On October 26, 4.5 million tons of corn were harvested from 20% of the area or 832 thousand hectares in Ukraine with a yield of 5.37 tons/ha, while last year on this date 11.2 million tons were threshed from 32% of the area with a yield of 6. 34 t/ha.