The flag of Ukraine is covered in grain in this photo illustration taken on May 9, 2022. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration / Archive Photo
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June 14 (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that temporary silos will be built along the border with Ukraine, including Poland, to help export more grain from the war-torn country and make in the face of the growing global food crisis.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24 and the blockade of its Black Sea ports, grain shipments have stalled and more than 20 million tonnes are trapped in silos. Ukraine has warned that it is facing a shortage of silos for a new grain crop.
The war has driven up prices for cereals, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizers.
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Russia and Ukraine account for almost a third of the world’s wheat supply. Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn and sunflower oil and Russia a key exporter of fertilizers.
“I am working closely with our European partners to get 20 million tonnes of closed grain in Ukraine out to market to help reduce food prices,” Biden said at a union convention in Philadelphia. “He can’t get out of the Black Sea because he’ll get out of the water.”
Ukraine and Russia have been setting up sea mines since the beginning of the conflict. Some 84 foreign ships are still stranded in Ukrainian ports, many of which have grain cargo on board. Read more
Biden said the United States is working on a plan to remove grain from Ukraine by rail, but noted that the widths of the Ukrainian railroad tracks are different from those in Europe, so the grain has been to transfer to different trains at the border.
“Therefore, we will build silos, temporary silos, on the borders of Ukraine, including Poland,” Biden said.
He said the grain could be transferred from those Ukrainian railroad cars to the new silos, and then to European freight cars to “take it out into the ocean and take it all over the world.”
“But it’s taking time,” he said.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday that European countries were considering offering temporary silos to “preserve the harvest and ensure the future supply of cereals to world markets,” but did not give further details. Read more
Ukraine has said that the best way to re-move its grain exports quickly is through shipments from the Black Sea. Read more
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is trying to negotiate what he calls a “package deal” to resume both Ukraine’s exports to the Black Sea and Russia’s exports of food and fertilizer, which Moscow says ‘have been affected by Western sanctions. The UN has so far called talks with Russia “constructive.”
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Report by Michelle Nichols Edited by Bill Berkrot
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