ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) has revealed that since March 2022, it has transported 580,000 tonnes of grain from Ukraine. In August alone it transported over 145,000 tonnes.
RCG has offered its transport and logistics services to Ukraine since the beginning of the war with Russia. The group is transporting grain out of Ukraine with all its available resources, to ensure money and storage space for the next local sowing and harvesting, and to help counteract the rising cost of living.
Due to the geographical location of the grain processing companies, a majority of the deliveries were transported to Hungary in August, followed by Germany, Italy, and Romania as well as the Netherlands. In this journey, the RCG grain transporters cross over four borders: firstly over the Ukrainian-Slovak border by Chop, the Hungarian-Ukrainian border Záhony, the Ukrainian-Romanian border Reni, as well as the Ukrainian-Polish border Chyriw.
The RCG anticipates ongoing demand at the current level over the next months. To hasten grain export, coorperation with the Ukranian State railway, Ukrzaliznica (UZ) will be further developed. The implementation of a permanent bilateral working party was approved at the end of August 2022. In doing so, operations such as data exchange and processes between cooperation partners will be optimised.
The online agricultural marketplace GrainLane, developed by RCG and an IT partner, has been connecting Ukrainian farmers with retailers, consumers, and logistics providers since 2022. Over 200,000 tonnes of grain, soy, and dry corn are currently being traded by over 1,000 registered users.
Parties interested in agricultural products can discuss details individually with sellers, and GrainLane optionally supports them with transport offers thanks to the partner networks of RCG. In this way, Ukrainian manufacturers can initiate new business relationships with international customers such as mills, traders, exporters, and foster a basis for growing exports by land.
The RCG makes GrainLane available free for all market participants at www.grain-lane.com thus providing, a further, pivotal contribution to grain export from Ukraine.
Image credit: ÖBB Rail Cargo Group
