China boosts Ukraine with large corn purchases
China has bought several hundred thousand metric tons — trad Chinese importers are believed to have made large purchases of animal feed corn from Ukraine in the past two weeks, traders in Asia and Europe said on Thursday, providing a boost for the war-ravaged country from an unlikely source.
The traders were unable to say the exact volumes but several said they amounted to several hundred thousand metric tons.
A Ukrainian government source also confirmed corn sales to China, a key ally of Russia, particularly since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
«Importers in China have bought around 10 to 12 Panamax cargoes of Ukrainian corn for November/December shipment,» said a Singapore-based trader at an international grains trading company, referring to a size of ship with a capacity that typically exceeds 60,000 tons of grain.
«Ukraine is the cheapest origin for corn as of now,» the trader said.
A Ukrainian government source said: «I cannot tell you the volume, but I know that many (traders) did it and it is a good trend (for Ukrainian corn).»
Russia has tried to impose a de facto blockade on seaborne Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.
Its exit from a U.N.-backed safe shipping corridor in July has made the Danube River Ukraine's main grain export route and Moscow has been bombing port infrastructure along the river for months.
Ukrainian farmers say that domestic grain prices have fallen by 40% due to the inability to export freely and this is forcing them to reconsider sowing plans for next year.
And even a new maritime corridor established by Kyiv, together with the Danube river ports, cannot compensate for the previously operating export routes from the Odesa port hub and Mykolaiv
