From September 16 to 19, USAID’s Economic Resilience Activity (ERA), in partnership with the Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business (UCAB), visited Ireland with 9 representatives of UCAB’s member companies to explore and expand agricultural commodity export opportunities. With close to five million tons of imports annually, Ukrainian grain traders were able to identify strong market opportunities for export to Ireland during the meeting with TOP 3 commodities importers in Ireland and continental Europe, including R&H Hall, Cefetra, and ADM. The Waterford Port visit provided the delegates with an understanding of the port operations dynamics in Ireland and highlighted specific opportunities for handysize combi-load shipments to Ireland. The delegates attended fruitful meetings with SFSI, Teagasc and got valuable insights into global agri-food best practices, sustainability trends and evolving market requirement needs within the European Union.

With support from USAID’s Economic Resilience Activity (ERA), at least 20 Ukrainian agricultural logistics companies can purchase grain handling equipment from the Kobzarenko Plant, an agricultural machinery manufacturer in Ukraine, at a 30% discount, potentially increasing the country’s grain exports and transshipment capacity by 2.5 million tons per year. 

This USAID ERA initiative is available to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with annual revenues of less than EUR 40 million. Ukrainian agro-holding companies and firms that have already received or will soon receive assistance from USAID ERA are not eligible. 

Qualified agri companies can purchase equipment to improve the efficiency of grain transshipment processes at critical nodes along the export route, including: 

• Mobile wagon unpacker RWМ-180 (tractor and electric power variations) 

• Ground transshipment bunkers BNP-12 “Kovcheg” (tractor and electric power variations) 

• Ground transshipment bunkers BNP-3 “Kovcheg” (tractor power variation) 

• Belt loader СN-25 (electric power variation) 

ERA will cover 30% of the cost for 51 pieces of equipment from the Kobzarenko Plant. 

On September 3, USAID’s Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) delivered the last 3,000 flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) grain bags (big bags) to the agricultural exporter, Grain Alliance. This was the final delivery of the 70,000 big bags bulk purchase. 

A big bag is a soft, pliable, container made of polyethylene, which carries 1 to 2 tons of grain (corn, wheat, soybeans). The advantage of big bags is that they protect the grain from rain and snow during road or rail transportation.  

These versatile big bags offer 70,000+ tons of storage capacity and allow Grain Alliance to be more adaptable with its supply chains. Big bags transport grain in open trucks and wagons while maintaining the grain’s high quality. Conveniently, big bags also offer the opportunity to transport cargo back to avoid returning empty. Lastly, big bags can be used as a short-term warehouse option in case the Black Sea ports are blocked again. 

Currently, Grain Alliance uses the USAID-provided big bags to store seeds. The exporter also plans to use the big bags to transport grain from their elevators in the central regions. Should another forced logistics strategy change happen again, Grain Alliance will have the option to transport grain by trucks via the Western border with the big bags to continue their export operations uninterrupted.  

Grain Alliance is among the top 20 agricultural companies of Ukraine. 

Background: Assistance to agricultural producers and infrastructure companies is part of the Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI) – Ukraine, implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.      

On September 4, USAID’s Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) delivered a pneumatic transshipment loader, to the agricultural logistics company, Ascet Shipping. 

The loader will increase Ascet Shipping’s competitiveness in the logistics services market by reducing the cost of moving grain by approximately 10% and increase transshipment capacity by 80-120,000 tons per year. The new equipment will enable Ascet Shipping to give their customers—agro traders—a lower tariff that in its turn will influence more favorable prices for farmers. 

The loader moves grain more than 100 meters and, if necessary, lifts to a height of 30 meters. Ascet Shipping’s customers transport grain by rail, therefore the logistics company needs the loader to move grain from wagons to load it into trailers. The trailers move the grain the last kilometer to the berths, where grain is put on ships for export. Ascet Shipping will purchase a 100 mm four-core 70 meter power cable to use for power to the loader.  

Ascet Shipping was founded in 2007 and in 2021 was the leading port operator in Mariupol, Berdiansk, Kherson, and Mykolaiv with their own barge fleet and storage capacities of more than 100,000 tons. Despite the loss of major assets, they relaunched, and now operate in all other ports of Ukraine. Ascet Shipping provides transport, transshipment, expedition, fumigation, and tax clearance services. Their exports reached 500,000 tons of agricultural commodities in 2022, and about 800,000 tons in 2023. 

Background: Assistance to agricultural producers and infrastructure companies is part of the Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI) – Ukraine, implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.

More information about the “AGRI-Ukraine” initiative is available following the link:
↗ https://www.usaid.gov/ukraine/agriculture-resilience-initiative-agri-ukraine

In 2024 alone, USAID has provided 300 grain wagons to 11 Ukrainian agri-exporters, marking a significant milestone in supporting the country’s agricultural export capacity. It is estimated that these 300 wagons will increase Ukraine’s grain exports by 432,705 tons annually, support exports worth nearly $83 million yearly, and attract significant additional investments. 

The key players that received wagons in Ukraine’s agricultural sector include Agro-Region, Almeida Group, Ascet Shipping, Astarta Kyiv, Cygnet, Eridon, IMC Group, Louis Dreyfus Company, MHP, Nidera Agro, UGTC Trade.  

These agri exporters will expedite grain for export customers, enhance USAID’s partners’ market independence, and optimize logistics costs, ultimately allowing them to offer Ukrainian farmers more competitive terms. 

Background: Assistance to agricultural producers and infrastructure companies is part of the Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI) – Ukraine, implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.

 In August 2023, USAID, through its Economic Resilience Activity (ERA), delivered two Rakoraf mechanical grain samplers to Nibulon at its Bessarabska branch, a river terminal on the Danube River. These samplers provide a quick and reliable method for sampling grains and oilseeds from open vehicles and delivering the samples to the laboratory. This new equipment enabled Nibulon to increase vehicle processing speeds by 75% daily, facilitate laboratory testing, and accelerate agricultural exports.   

The samplers complement two existing ones that were often out of service due to wear and tear. With the new, additional samplers from USAID ERA, Nibulon bolstered the amount of cargo accepted by road and processed 350 vehicles per day at the Bessarabska branch, a 75% increase in capacity. 

During the 2023-2024 marketing year, Nibulon used the new samplers to conduct incoming grain quality control on approximately 43,450 vehicles, or 1,1 million tons of grain, representing 90% of the total grain volume entering Nibulon’s Bessarabska branch.  

The Bessarabska branch transships grain from road and rail to river transport, primarily bound for Constanta, Romania. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the ports in Odesa ceased operations, the Bessarabska branch became Nibulon’s main export channel. Nibulon exported 64% of its grain through this terminal in the first quarter of 2023.  When the Black Sea Grain Corridor opened, flows through the Bessarabska branch decreased, but it remains an important export route for the agri exporter.

Despite a drone attack that damaged the branch’s warehouses in August 2023, the terminal quickly resumed operations, allowing Nibulon to continue delivering grain to global markets. 

By operating the terminal, the company not only exports grain to people who need it but also supports the local economy by paying taxes and creating jobs.