How the War Redirected Ukraine's Grain Exports

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the temporary blockage of its Black Sea ports have redirected the flow of grain from Ukraine. One of the world’s leading producers of wheat, corn and vegetable oils, Ukraine shipped much of its grain internationally prior to the war, with seven of the 10 most important destination markets for Ukrainian grain exports in 2021 located in Asia and North Africa (eight when including Turkey).

That changed drastically in 2022, as the following chart illustrates. According to data from the UN Comtrade database, much of Ukraine’s grain exports ended up in Europe last year, with Romania, Poland and Hungary seeing particularly large increases in inflows of grain from their embattled neighbor. Meanwhile, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Morocco and Tunisia all dropped out of the top 10, as the flow of Ukrainian exports via maritime trade was severely disrupted.