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BUCHAREST, March 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine shipped 1.33 million metric tons of grains through the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta in the first two months of the year, the port authority said on Tuesday.
Ukraine is one of the world's biggest grain exporters, and Constanta has become Kyiv's largest alternative export route since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Constanta Port data, which does not include volumes handled through the smaller Romanian Danube ports and rail and road transit to southern European states, showed that 894,000 tons of Ukrainian grain left port in February.
Grains arrive in Romania by road, rail and barge across the Danube river. While transit via Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta had slowed in January, road and rail exports were picking up speed as a result of EU-funded rail investments, European Transport Commissioner Adina Valean told Reuters in February.
Valean also said Ukrainian officials were talking with Romanian counterparts about installing three temporary floating buoys in the port of Constanta, which would add an additional 1 million metric tons to the port's monthly transit capacity.
Constanta recorded its highest grain exports in 2023 thanks to a surge in shipments from Ukraine and ongoing EU-funded infrastructure projects. The port shipped 36 million metric tons of grain last year, up 50% from the previous year, with Ukrainian grain accounting for roughly 40% of the total. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Louise Heavens)
