The Agria stevedoring company has begun receiving Ukrainian wheat intended for export at the Berdiansk seaport, the CFTS reports, citing a statement on the company's Facebook page.

"More than 50 vehicles were received and unloaded on December 12, the first day of operation of the warehouse," Agria said in the statement.

According to the statement, the company plans to accumulate 11,000 tons of cargo for subsequent loading onto a ship for export.

According to the stevedoring company’s head Yurii Rovytskyi, the terminal in Berdiansk is capable of receiving cargo from vehicles at the rate of up to 2,500 tons per day and from trains at the rate of 1,00 2-1,500 tons per day. The design minimum shipment capacity is 4,000 tons per day. The company is currently able to guarantee shipment of 2,500-3,000 tons per day.

The terminal is currently capable of simultaneous storage of 12,000 tons. Agria intends to increase this figure six-fold to 60,000 tons within three years, mainly by using aboveground warehouses. It currently has one aboveground warehouse, but it plans to build an additional mechanized aboveground warehouse and mechanize the existing one in in the future. It also plans to build a silo with a capacity of 25,000 tons.

The Ukrainian Seaports Authority recently denied reports that cargo traffic from the ports on the Azov Sea were being reoriented to Black Sea ports because of the construction of a bridge over the Kerch Strait. 

Cargo handling at the Berdiansk seaport reduced by almost 40% in the period of January-September 2017.