Grain exports at risk: first ships avoid Bulgaria's Black Sea ports
Due to the attacks in the Black Sea, the first freighters have avoided Bulgaria's ports, grain producers say. The country needs to sell around five million tonnes of wheat on world markets.
Symbolic image · Photo: Alexey Komarov / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The insecurity in the Black Sea is hitting Bulgaria's grain sector. "We already have ships that have refused to come to Bulgarian ports," Iliya Prodanov, chairman of the National Association of Grain Producers, said on Bulgarian National Television BNT on Friday. Other freighters are delaying their arrival and waiting in the southern Black Sea. According to him, Bulgaria has to sell around five million tonnes of wheat internationally, while domestic consumption is only about 1.2 to 1.3 million tonnes. Freight costs for grain from the Black Sea region have risen five- to sixfold since the start of the war in Ukraine, and insurance has also become much more expensive.
If exports remain blocked, Prodanov warned, a surplus would build up in the country with not enough storage space alongside the next harvest. Regional prices could then fall even if world prices rise. The European Commission has been discussing alternative routes via Greek ports since 2021, but rail links to Greece, with only one or two border crossings, are not sufficient for such volumes. Prodanov called for short-term guarantees for shipping safety in Bulgarian waters and long-term investment in routes via Greece.