EXCLUSIVE Alert from the transport operators: The termination of the grain transport agreement will have severe repercussions for Romania. Expect a considerable rise in costs, a doubling of transit time, potential border crossing blockades, and an overwhelming influx of trucks at the Port of Constanta

The break-up of the agreement for grain transport in the Black Sea will put additional pressure on Romania’s road infrastructure, but also on the Port of Constanta, which is already overcrowded with Ukrainian grain trucks at a time when the Romanian harvest is also being loaded onto ships, warns the Federation of Romanian Transport Operators (FORT). The peak of the season will be reached in about two weeks, Viorel Panait, president of port operators in Constanța, told G4Media, adding that measures agreed with the European Commission to improve transit times are currently being taken.

Last year, despite the agreement to transport Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea, trucks from Ukraine waited up to a week to cross the border, and a Romania-Odesa-Constanta trip could take up to two weeks. Days of waiting were also recorded when loading grain onto ships in the port of Constanta.

The agreement with Russia, signed last July, created a protected corridor in the Black Sea to allow exports from three Ukrainian ports to resume after being blocked until then. Ukraine has thus been able to export almost 30 million tonnes of grain and food products.

It is unclear whether it is still possible to ship grain by sea at this time. Among the risks that insurers should consider are the presence of Russian naval vessels in Black Sea waters and floating sea mines. Without such a deal, the risks to ships docking in Ukrainian ports is very high and most shipowners will shy away from such shipments or overcharge, according to Christian Vinther Christensen, chief operating officer at Danish shipping group NORDEN, quoted by Reuters.

Pressure on road infrastructure

Road infrastructure remains key at the moment, as rail transport involves significant logistical challenges. Railway gauges in Ukraine are different from those in the European Union, and Ukrainian trains cannot cross the border, so goods have to be transferred.

„By train it takes a lot of time, transhipment of goods is more complicated, the Port of Constanta is not yet properly prepared to take on larger volumes by rail. By road, last year it took up to 12 days to leave Romania by truck, load somewhere around Odessa and return to Constanta or the Bulgarian border. We’ve also had 14-day situations. The border crossing could take five to seven days. You never knew when you were crossing, how you were crossing,” Augustin Hagiu, president of FORT, explained to G4Media.

In addition to increased transit time, road transport involves significantly higher costs and the blocking of already overcrowded border crossings, Mihaela Șerban, a FORT member and manager of a grain forwarding company, told G4Media.

„The flows that can be followed in the case of this radical measure, can only be road transport to the Port of Constanta and then further departure by sea, in which case, costs will increase significantly, transit time will double, border crossing points will be blocked, and the pressure will be put on the same Port of Constanta, through which at the moment the Romanian harvest of this year is exported,” said Mihaela Șerban.

Port of Constanta will reach peak traffic in two weeks

Last year, Ukrainian goods arrived at the Port of Constanta mainly on barges – from Reni and Ismail, by rail and road, Florin Vizan, director of the Port of Constanta, explained to G4Media. „Those routes have already been streamlined – customs, sanitary control, police, etc, and under these conditions, they will continue to be used by carriers,” the official added.

But the timing is not right. Romanian farmers are also exporting their harvest at this time. Queues of hundreds of trucks systematically form at the port entrance, stretching along the A2 highway. „In an already overcrowded port, we will have an invasion of trucks bringing in grain from Ukraine, which will make traffic even more difficult. Rail and river transport capacities are also reduced to a minimum, mainly due to the current agricultural campaign”, warned Mihaela Serban.

Since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian cargo traffic through the port of Constanta has amounted to 10.16 million tonnes, of which 7.5 million tonnes are cereals. Florin Vizan gave assurances that the port will meet the challenges. „These quantities of goods transited through the port of Constanta are important, but do not decisively influence the operating capacity of the port of Constanta. Indeed, during this period of the agricultural campaign, the operational activity of the Port of Constanta is busier, on all modes of transport, but we manage this situation and avoid any bottlenecks,” said Florin Vizan.

The peak season will most likely be reached in the next two weeks, said Viorel Panait, which is why urgent measures agreed with the European Commission are being taken to improve transit times. „The general context is one of concern, everyone was interested in improving transit times and supporting this cargo flow,” summed up Viorel Panait the atmosphere at the last meeting organized by the European Commission, attended by authorities and operators from all countries involved in the Ukrainian grain transport process. One of the measures is the move to simplified electronic transit procedures, reducing the process from 48 hours to 30 minutes. Other plans include increasing transit capacity at Siret and Giurgiulesti customs, improving docking conditions to reduce barge pick-up times and managing truck queues.