Spain tests departure of Ukrainian grains by train

Spain has advanced on a test to remove grains from Ukraine for export by train, as an alternative or supplement to the sea route, depending on the impact of the war on Ukrainian ports, the Spanish executive announced this Tuesday.

The “pilot project” began Tuesday with the departure of a train carrying 25 containers from Madrid, bound for Chelm, Poland, on the border with Ukraine, according to a statement from the Spanish Ministry of Transport.

The containers will return to Spain at the beginning of September, to Barcelona, ​​​​with 600 tons of maize, after covering the approximately 2,400 kilometers of the “railway that crosses Europe”, the Spanish government predicts.

“The project aims to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of rail transport of grains as an alternative to the maritime mode”when the war in Ukraine, provoked by the Russian invasion of February 24, “causes restrictions in the ports of the Black Sea,” the same statement said.

Ukraine is one of the world’s largest grain producers and its ports on the Black Sea were the gateway to the rest of the world.

The logistics of transporting the 600 tons of maize will be split between Spain and Ukraine, with the grain transshipment in Chelm, Poland, 25 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, explains the same note released this Tuesday.

This test is coordinated with public-private transport and resource management companies in the European Union.

“The first steps of this pilot project coincide with the reopening of the Black Sea ports and the maritime grain routes under Turkey’s supervision, so the test trip will be carried out with 600 tons of maize, a smaller volume than initially agreed, but equally important to the feasibility to prove a Spanish-led rail solution to support maritime transport”defends the Spanish government.

The outflow of grain from Ukraine was blocked from the start of the war until the end of July, when an agreement between Turkey and the United Nations was signed.

Since the signing of the agreement on July 22 in Istanbul, more than 10 ships have left Ukraine with more than 300,000 tons of grain, according to figures quoted by Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.

Under the agreement, ships leaving Ukraine will be checked by representatives of Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the UN to ensure that they only carry grain, fertilizer or food and no other goods.

Ships bound for Ukraine are being checked to make sure they have no weapons on board.

The agreement was reached in light of the threat of a global food crisis posed by the blockade of Ukrainian grains in ports controlled by Russian troops, following the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24 by Russia.

The war also affected the global supply of agricultural fertilizers, of which Russia is a major producer.

According to the British magazine The Economist, Ukraine and Russia together supply 28% of the world’s wheat, 29% of barley, 15% of maize and 75% of sunflower oil.