Earlier this week, the Panamax vessel “Unity N” left the port of Constanta in Romania carrying 71,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn. The shipment headed for Spain is the first to leave with Ukrainian corn since Russia invaded on Feb 24. Since the war began, Ukraine’s Black Sea ports have been blocked, forcing the world’s third largest corn exporter to seek different means of transport. Some shipments have been loaded on trains and sent via the country’s western borders, while others

have been sent to Romania via small ports along the Danube River. However, exports by rail are constrained due to the number of wagons available, and the limited capacities at EU borders, where goods must be reloaded due to the different rail gauges. Ukraine’s current grain export capacity is estimated to be around 450-700 K/month, compared with 5.6 MMT/month before the war started.