Romania's Constanta Port handles over 1.3 mln tonnes of Ukrainian grain since Feb 24

MOSCOW. July 28 (Interfax) - Romania's Constanta Port on the Black Sea coast has handled more than 1.3 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain cargoes since February 24, 940,000 tonnes of which have already been exported, while the remaining 360,000 tonnes are now being kept in port silos and will soon be exported under earlier signed contracts.

The Constanta Port has handled a total of 37.5 million tonnes of cargoes in the first half of 2022, a 17% rise from the same period of 2021, the Ukrainian media quoted the Bulgarian media outlet Maritime.bg as saying on Wednesday.

As reported earlier, the Constanta Port began using a floating crane in mid-July to transload agricultural products arriving on barges from Ukraine along the Danube River.

Ukraine started using the Constanta Port as an alternative logistics route in late April 2022 to bypass its blocked seaports. On April 29, the Constanta Port transferred the first batch of 71,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn to a Panamax-class vessel and sent it to a recipient from a third country.

Ukraine and Romania began negotiations in late March on sending Ukrainian agricultural exports via European seaports, including the Constanta Port in Romania.