Posted on August, 4, 2022 at 08:53 am
On June 14, 2022, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would build temporary grain silos on the Poland-Ukraine border. With the war in Ukraine, exports of grains and other food products have declined as Russia damaged Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure. Before the war, Ukraine’s grain storage capacity reduced by 15 million to 60 million tonnes after Russian forces destroyed or occupied the silos sites. Additionally, with a Russian blockade on the Black Sea, the volume of grains that Ukraine is shipping is lower than before the war. With a lower global supply of grains, prices of grains have risen. Biden hopes to help address the rising food prices and global shortages by moving some of the grains out of Ukraine by train to grain silos on the border.
Typically, 400 million people worldwide rely on Ukraine’s food supplies, according to Euronews. While the war in Ukraine is having effects on global trade, the price of wheat and grain has risen significantly for countries importing grains. Being the fifth-biggest wheat exporter in the world, according to The Guardian, Ukraine’s wheat exports typically go to countries in Africa and the Middle East. However, in some of these countries, the price of wheat is rising by more than 750%, making it hard for some people experiencing poverty to buy necessary food supplies, Euronews reported.
Ukraine managed to export only 1.5 to 2 million tons of wheat per month since the war started. The head of the African Union, Macky Sall, warned that the blockage of grain exports from Ukraine could be catastrophic for the ongoing food shortages and rising prices. As the U.N. has projected, 181 million people in 41 countries could face a hunger crisis or famine due to this, Euronews reported.
The Black Sea is crucial for transporting exports, as previously Ukraine exported 90% of its wheat and other grains by sea, according to Euronews. There are ongoing talks between the U.N. and Russia, and separate talks with Russia and Turkey, to open the Black Sea for trade, which would allow Ukraine to move its grain to other countries. However, as of July, Russia still has a blockade on the Black Sea and the U.S. has said that it will not send military ships to break up the blockade.
With the blockade still in the Black Sea as of July, another solution was necessary to get the grain out of Ukraine. The U.S. has pledged to build temporary grain silos on the Poland-Ukraine border, The Guardian reported. As the harvesting season began in July, the U.S. planned to take grains to Poland by rail. Since Ukraine has wider rail tracks than other European countries, the grains will need to be transferred to different trains and thus the need for the silos prior to the transfer. With the silos, the grains will be transported in smaller volumes than could be transported through the Black Sea. Additionally, Poland’s agriculture minister Henrik Kowalczyk has said that it could take three to four months to complete all the grain silos, well after the summer harvest.
While talks about reopening trade through the Black Sea are ongoing, the U.N. and other organizations predict a global food crisis. With an immediate and temporary solution, the grain silos may allow Ukraine to export some of the food products throughout the world.
Source: Borgen