12/08/2022

FIRST CARGO OF UKRAINIAN RAZONI CEREALS LANDS IN TURKEY WHERE IT HAS FOUND A NEW BUYER

The Razoni, a freighter flying the Sierra Leonean flag, left the Ukrainian port of Odessa on the Black Sea on August 1 with 26,000 tonnes of corn.

The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain docked at the port of Mersin, Turkey on Wednesday, according to maritime traffic tracking sites, and found a new buyer, a news site reported.

The Razoni, a freighter flying the Sierra Leonean flag, left the Ukrainian port of Odessa on the Black Sea on August 1 with 26,000 tonnes of corn, and should have docked in the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, on Sunday.

The five-month delivery period, however, “prompted the buyer and the shipper to agree on the cancellation of the order”, the Ukrainian embassy explained in a press release on Tuesday evening.

According to maritime traffic tracing sites, the Razoni docked at the Turkish Mediterranean port of Mersin on Wednesday evening.

A new buyer has been found in Turkey for the maize transported by the Razoni, the Middle East Eye news site reported.

“The cargo has been sold and will be unloaded in Mersin,” said Ahmed Al-Fares of shipping agency Ashram, according to the site.
An agreement signed by Russia and Ukraine, and validated by the United Nations and Turkey in July in Istanbul, has allowed the resumption of the export of Ukrainian cereals in order to stem the world food crisis.

Frederick Kenney, a senior UN official overseeing the deal, said on Wednesday that wheat exports will begin next week after ships laden with corn, stuck in Ukrainian ports since Russian invasion, were able to leave.

“We are seeing a steady increase in the number of ships arriving and departing. This is a good start,” he added.