Category: Freight

Expansion: Ukraine opened 19 new agricultural export markets in 2025 across North America, Asia, the Balkans, and the Middle East despite ongoing war conditions. Product breadth: New access covers eggs, dairy, peas, fishery products, feed and non-food animal products, poultry, processed foods, and apples. High-value destinations: China, Canada, Oman, Kuwait, Malaysia, and Chile enhance Ukraine’s…

Export slowdown: Ukraine’s agricultural exports fell 8.8% in 2025 to $22.53 billion, reducing foreign currency inflows. EU pivot: The EU share of Ukrainian agro-exports dropped below half, to 47.5% ($10.7 billion), amid logistics and regulatory shifts. Trade balance pressure: Ukraine’s agricultural trade surplus with the EU narrowed sharply from $8.87 billion to $6.06 billion. Sector…

Export Growth: Russian agricultural exports to China reached $6.7 billion in Jan–Nov 2025, up 14% year-on-year, reinforcing China’s role as Russia’s top food buyer. Rapeseed Oil Surge: Rapeseed oil shipments to China jumped 42% to exceed $1.2 billion, becoming the second-largest agricultural export after frozen fish. Commodity Concentration: China remained the largest buyer of Russian rapeseed oil,…

Policy push: Kazakhstan has formally requested China to accelerate inspections and expand both eligible regions and product lists for agricultural exports. Operational readiness: Kazakh authorities and companies confirmed they are prepared to meet Chinese phytosanitary and documentation requirements. Logistics impact: Expanded Kazakhstan–China trade could modestly ease competition for Black Sea export capacity over the medium…

Russian wheat exports raised: SovEcon increased its 2025/26 wheat export forecast to 44.6 million tonnes, lifting total grain exports to 52.9 million tonnes. Near-record shipment pace: November and December wheat exports reached 5.1 and 4.2 million tonnes respectively, near all-time monthly highs. Margins turn positive: Falling domestic prices and stable $230/tonne FOB values have shifted…

Bullish: Millet demand prices at Ukrainian ports surged 60% over the final four months of 2025, signaling tightening supply and/or stronger export demand. Market Signal: The sharp price rally may indicate broader tightness in specialty grain markets and improved revenue prospects for Ukrainian millet producers. Millet Prices Surge at Ukrainian Ports According to APK-Inform monitoring,…

Bullish: Kazakhstan’s crop exports surged 41.2% to $2.3 billion, supported by government financing and expanded market access across Central Asia, China, Russia, the Middle East, and Europe. Bearish: Increased Kazakh supply may intensify competition for freight capacity and pressure Black Sea-origin prices, particularly in wheat and sunflower oil. Kazakhstan Crop Export Surge Kazakhstan’s agricultural export…

Kazakhstan’s Export Credit Agency secured a 200 billion tenge ($440 million) state guarantee with a 10-year term to expand support for non-resource exports. The guarantee boosts the agency’s insurance coverage to highly liquid collateral status, lowering financing costs and improving access to international capital for exporters. Stronger export finance mechanisms are expected to enhance Kazakhstan’s…

Ukrzaliznytsia will introduce an automated freight car repair allocation system from January 1, 2026. The platform will balance depot workloads using capacity, current utilization, and geographic proximity. Full digitalization of contracts, documentation, and payments aims to increase transparency and speed. Expected market impact is neutral to mildly bullish, contingent on successful implementation in 2026. Ukrzaliznytsia…

Financing Momentum: Ukrainian SMEs received 419 state-guaranteed loans totaling about UAH 2 billion in November 2024, reinforcing access to working capital. Program Scale: Since December 2020, the state guarantee program has issued 51,654 loans worth over UAH 168 billion to small and medium-sized businesses. Regional Concentration: Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Lviv oblasts lead in guaranteed loan…