Port of Constanta posts a record 29.4 million metric tons of grain in Jan-Oct 2023
Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta shipped a record 29.4 million metric tons of grain in the first 10 months of this year, with supply from Ukraine accounting for 40% of that, the port authority told Reuters. Ukraine is one of the world's biggest grain exporters, and Constanta has become Kyiv's largest alternative export route, with grains arriving by road, rail or barge across the Danube.
During January-October, it shipped 11.7 million tons of grain through Constanta, up from 10.5 million at the end of September and from 8.6 million in total in 2022. Constanta's previous all-time annual high stood at a little over 25 million tons. The data does not include volumes handled through smaller Romanian Danube ports.
A government source told Reuters Constanta now had a logistics capacity of 40 million tons of grain per year. The Romanian government has said it aims to double the monthly transit capacity for Ukrainian grain to 4 million tons in coming months, with investment in infrastructure ongoing both in Constanta and on the Danube. Port operators have also invested in equipment to increase loading speeds.
Ukrainian grain competes for space in Constanta, which traditionally handles Romania's crop exports and those of its landlocked neighbours, including Hungary and Serbia.
