China approves Bioceres drought-resistant soya

IN BRIEF

UKRAINE: The operators of a key Black Sea canal temporarily halted vessels moving towards the Danube River ports of Reni, Izmail and Giurgiulesti in a bid to reduce a huge backlog, AgriCensus reported on 11 May.

Sulina Canal links the shallow water Ukrainian Izmail and Reni ports, and the Romanian port of Giurgiulesti, with Black Sea export facilities. The canal had reported a major increase in activity following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as it is a key link in moving Ukrainian agricultural produce.

Ukraine has been restricted to loading coaster-sized vessels at Izmail and Reni as Russia has blockaded its deep sea ports.

UKRAINE: Ukraine could face a storage shortfall of up to 20M tonnes due to damage to the domestic silo network, AgriCensus reported on 19 May. Total pre-war domestic storage capacity was an estimated 57-60M tonnes but large carryover of stocks from the 2021/22 marketing year due to Ukraine’s inability to export crops, and a decent crop forecast for this year, were forcing producers to turn to non-traditional storage methods at inland silos, including using silo bags.

UKRAINE: A total of 61,007 tonnes of vegetable oils were exported by rail from Ukraine between 1-27 April, AgriCensus reports. Izov was the busiest border point, taking the highest volumes of vegetable oils through the Polish border. Around 19,000 tonnes of vegetable oils also passed through Batyevo on the Hungarian border, while 4,096 tonnes went through the Moldavian border points of Mohyliv-Podilskyi and Sokyriany. Lower volumes went through the Romanian border points of Vadul-Siret and Dyakovo.

EC proposing logistics rescue plan for Ukraine

The European Commission (EC) has plans to set up ‘Solidarity Lanes’ to ensure Ukraine can export grain and oilseeds and import essential goods, including humanitarian aid, animal feed and fertilisers, World Grain wrote on 13 May.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and its blockage of Ukrainian ports, grains and other agricultural exports have been unable to reach their destinations.

Around 20M tonnes of grain need to leave Ukraine in less than three months using European Union (EU) infrastructure, according to Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean.

Thousands of railway wagons and trucks are waiting for clearance on the Ukrainian side, with the average waiting time for railcars currently 16 days, but up to 30 days at some borders. Further quantities of grain are still stored and held back in Ukrainian silos ready for export.

Challenges include different rail gauge widths, with Ukrainian railway wagons not compatible with most of the EU rail network, meaning most goods need to be trans-shipped to trucks or railway wagons that match the EU standard gauge.

Short-term actions to address the obstacles and set up “Solidarity Lanes” would include calling on EU market players to urgently make additional freight rolling stock, vessels and trucks available. To match supply and demand and establish relevant contacts, the commission said it would set up a match-making logistics platform. The commission also called on market players to urgently transfer mobile grain loaders to the relevant border terminals to speed up trans-shipment. A road transport agreement with Ukraine would also remove bottlenecks.

New marine fuel piloted in Scandinavia

Renewable diesel producer Neste said on 17 May that it is piloting a new co-processed marine fuel in Scandinavia with Nordic Marine Oil to help the maritime sector reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The company said the shipping industry accounted for 90% of world trade and 13% of global transport emissions,

The co-processed marine fuel would be produced at Neste’s refinery in Porvoo, Finland, where renewable raw materials are co-processed with fossil raw materials. The drop-in fuel would be available at key ports across Denmark from Nordic Marine Oil, which specialises in the supply of bunker fuels and lubricating oil to the shipping industry. • A collaboration between

Shipping accounts for 13% of global transport emissions Neste, French fuel supplier Altens and pipeline firm TRAPIL delivered up to 3.5M litres of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) by pipeline in France, Neste announced on 2 April. The HVO was delivered from Le Havre to Gennevilliers, near Paris, where Altens stores its products for the region. The delivery took less than 48 hours to complete and replaced 110 truck deliveries, Neste said.

Cargill buys land at port for crushing plant

Canada’s Saskatchewan province has sold land at its inland port to global agribusiness giant Cargill for a canola crushing plant, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix reports.

The Global Transportation Hub (GTH) authority in Regina, Saskatchewan – one of Canada’s inland ports – sold the land to Cargill for US$38M, according to the 6 April report.

Cargill announced plans for the new 1M tonnes/year canola plant last April, saying it expected to begin construction this year with plans to become operational by early 2024.

Alongside plans for the US$350M Regina canola plant, Cargill said it would also be updating its canola facilities in Camrose and Clavet to increase production.