The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) has provided data on the volume of cargo handled in the ports of Odesa, Pivdennyi, and Chornomorsk from September 2023 to the end of March 2024 within the context of the opening of Ukraine’s Black Sea corridor.
The data provided by the USPA show that the port of Pivdennyi handled 14.3 million tons of cargo during this period, including 5.7 million tons of grain and 8.6 million tons of other cargo (obviously ore and rolled metal). According to the data, 315 ships left the port through the Ukrainian Black Sea corridor, the CFTS portal reports.
It should be noted that the first ship entered and left the Pivdennyi port on 1 October last year (before that, two bulk carriers with 228,000 tons of cast iron and iron ore left the port on 1 September, but they had been in the port since the beginning of the Russian invasion).
This means that the port handled over 14 million tons of cargo in six months. For comparison, 10.4 million tons of goods were exported through the port during the 12 months in which the Black Sea Grain Initiative was in effect. In 2021, the port handled 53.5 million tons, which means that the nominal figure before the war would have been over 26 million tons in six months.
Over the past seven months, 11.4 million tons of cargo have been handled in the port of Chornomorsk, including 10.7 million tons of grain and 0.7 million tons of other cargo, and 442 ships were loaded and dispatched. For comparison, the port handled 12.7 million tons during the 12 months in which the Black Sea Grain Initiative was in effect.
The port of Odesa handled 8.1 million tons of cargo in the seven months since the opening of the Ukrainian Black Sea corridor, including 6.9 million tons of grain and 1.2 million tons of other cargoes, and 383 vessels were loaded and dispatched. During the 12 months in which the Black Sea Grain Initiative was in effect, 9.7 million tons of agricultural products were shipped through the port.
As previously reported, 33.8 million tons of cargo has been exported through the Ukrainian Black Sea corridor in the seven months since the opening of the corridor. Of this volume, 23.1 million tons were agricultural products and the rest were mainly cargoes from the Ukrainian mining and metallurgical complex. This is more than the volume that was exported during the first year of operation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Over the seven months, 1,140 ships left three Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea corridor.
"We have almost reached pre-war export volumes from the ports of Greater Odesa, and we have established a much more efficient logistical route without the participation of the aggressor state while continuing to be a guarantor of world food security. This is another joint victory for the state, the armed forces, and the entire maritime infrastructure industry," said Minister of Development of Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov.
