Russian export grain is returning to its home ports. Development of port infrastructure for transshipment of agricultural products in the Astrakhan region

In recent years, Russia has confidently become one of the world's leading producers of commercial grain. Foreign exchange earnings from grain exports are becoming an important source of replenishment of the country's budget and the economic basis of modernization Agriculture.

E.A. Gagarsky, Head of the Center for Transport Coordination and TTS of Soyuzmorniiproekt OJSC, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor

S.A. Kirichenko, manager container transportation sector of JSC Soyuzmorniiproekt

S.G. Kozlov, Head of the Seaport Design Center of JSC Soyuzmorniiproekt, Ph.D.

Unlike other raw materials such as oil, gas, coal, grain is a renewable export product. With careful treatment of the arable wedge and the effective implementation of modern innovative technologies in agriculture, the upward trend in the gross grain harvest can be maintained for many years.

Consistently high grain production in the country, exceeding domestic needs, is the key to the food security of the state. With grain supplies, Russia contributes to global problem combating hunger, solving world food problems, which increases its authority on the world stage.

Climate warming, especially in the last decade, as well as the introduction of new highly productive varieties of grain, contribute to increasing yields.

Following the traditional southern black soil regions of the country, in the last five years an increasing number of agricultural producers in the central regions of Russia have become export-oriented. This is confirmed by transport statistics on export shipments. Annual income from exports is the economic basis for the introduction of new high-performance equipment, allows for the purchase of high-quality seed stock, and fills local budgets with taxes, thereby contributing to the revival of the village.

The country has significant potential to increase sown areas, primarily due to the movement of the grain wedge to the north.

In 2008, the gross grain harvest reached 108.1 million tons - a record value over the past 15 years. At the same time (2008-2009), a historical record for grain exports was set for Russia - more than 23 million tons (including flour in grain equivalent).

In the favorable agricultural season of 2014-2015. the gross harvest was slightly lower - 105.3 million tons, but exports reached 31.9 million tons.

Forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation for the grain harvest in the new season 2015-2016. - up to 100 million tons with an export potential of 29-30 million tons.

The agricultural complex of Russia has been given a large-scale task - by 2019-2020. increase the gross grain harvest to 135 million tons per year and ensure the export of about 40-45 million tons of grain per year. At the same time, Russia's record grain harvests have shown that the country's export capabilities are largely limited by the transport complex, outdated logistics, the throughput of specialized grain terminals at ports, as well as the fleet of specialized rolling stock of grain wagons.

In the last years of the management of the USSR, the country was a major world importer of grain. With the growing demand for exports from the Russian Federation, a phased modernization of port terminals was carried out and their reorientation to the shipment of grain at sea from preliminary preparation goods to export condition. However, with the collapse of the USSR, many port facilities found themselves outside the borders of Russia, which forced them to actively use the ports of neighboring states. In Fig. Table 1 shows data on the volume of Russian grain exports through seaports.

Rice. 1. Export of grain through Russian seaports

Thanks to the measures taken, the share of participation of foreign ports is reduced. Since 2013, grain exports through Ukrainian ports have been completely stopped. Additional volumes were taken over by port terminals in southern Russia. At the end of 2014, Russian seaports handled 29.69 million tons of grain, which is 57.5% more than the previous year, 2013. However, in the field of logistics, a burden of problems is accumulating that must be solved on a qualitatively new basis.

The Russian grain logistics infrastructure, including the storage capacity of port terminals and elevators, as well as the railway infrastructure on the approaches to ports, is being used to the limit of its capabilities. The further extensive path of development of the traditional logistics scheme for grain exports has largely exhausted itself and requires fundamental changes.

93% of the total volume of grains (27.91 million tons - 2014) is exported through the ports of the Black Sea-Azov basin. “Rostov is a grain-producing city” - this historical thesis remains relevant today. In the shallow ports of the Azov Sea there is a significant amount of port terminal elevator facilities.

Due to depth restrictions, these ports can ship grain to a fleet with a deadweight of 2-6 thousand tons.

Until recently, this situation suited both Russian exporters and the bulk of foreign buyers in the countries of the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and Africa.

The transport and technological scheme for the formation and promotion of export grain flows, which took shape back in the Soviet years, begins with its arrival from primary producers to field elevators. Then the grain is transported by road or rail to linear elevators, where it is processed, stored, sales batches are formed and loaded onto cars and railroads.

The dispersion of grain loading stations is very high. Such export cargo is offered for transportation from more than 1,200 stations in the country. More than 80% of these stations are inactive, sending 1-2 cars each.

The existing elevator capacities for storing and preparing grain from the new harvest within the country are mostly technically and technologically outdated. They do not provide comprehensive services for grain processing, storage and transshipment. The total volume of grain storage at elevators no longer corresponds to the achieved level of yield in Russia.

Scattered single shipments in small batches, a low share of rail route transportation, and the lack of capacity to receive full shipping routes at ports, especially during peak periods of mass grain transportation, are the main negative aspects established logistics scheme, which negatively affects both the competitiveness of Russian grain exports and the competitive positions of sea ports.

To a certain extent, this situation suited everyone, as long as the size of the accumulated shipload was up to 6 thousand tons.

However, all these years, in the ports of our leading buyer countries, active construction of new port complexes for receiving grain, aimed at processing large-tonnage fleets with a deadweight of 50-200 thousand tons, has been and is ongoing.

The bulk of Russian grain is sold on FOB terms, when the buyer pays sea freight and bears the costs of unloading at a foreign port of destination.

These costs (per ton of cargo) on small-tonnage vessels significantly exceed the costs when using a large-tonnage fleet. Currently, Russia's main competitors in the global grain market, Canada, the USA, and Argentina, are universally switching to the use of ocean-going fleets when exporting to the countries of the listed regions of the world.

Table 1. Availability of specialized grain terminals in Russian seaports

Sea port	Number of terminals
Baltic Basin
Saint Petersburg
Kaliningrad
Azov basin
Azov
Rostov-on-Don
Temryuk
Yeysk
Caspian basin
Astrakhan
Olya
Makhachkala
Black Sea basin
Novorossiysk
Tuapse
Taganrog
Taman
Caucasus
Kerch
Far East
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Vladivostok
Total ports of the Russian Federation

The situation is aggravated by the fact that Ukraine, having generally deeper-water ports on the Black Sea, has changed the logistics of grain export transportation, abandoned the logistics scheme that had been established since the times of the USSR and switched to transportation by ocean-going large-capacity fleet.

Considering the short distance of Ukrainian exporters from transshipment ports, the prevailing share of grain delivery to ports in Ukraine is now carried out by road transport. A significant portion of the grain car fleet that Ukraine inherited was sold or leased to other CIS republics, and the rolling stock that had served its useful life was scrapped.

In addition, a floating grain transshipment complex has been created in the Dnieper-Bug estuary for reloading grain from river vessels transporting grain along the Dnieper to ocean-going bulk carriers. At this complex, in particular, a record consignment of grain from the CIS for the Black Sea ports was loaded (in the roadstead) and sent for export - 138,000 tons (with the specification deadweight of the vessel used being about 150 thousand tons).

In the current situation, maintaining the traditional grain logistics scheme threatens Russia with a loss of competitiveness, primarily in the regional market of Mediterranean countries. To achieve the goals of significantly increasing Russian grain exports, it is necessary:

- Carry out a transition to the predominant shipment of grain of mass varieties to a large-capacity fleet with a deadweight of 50 thousand tons or more. To further increase transshipment deep-sea capacities in the ports of Taman, Novorossiysk, Tuapse and expand the capacity of port elevators to accumulate and prepare for sending large ship consignments to sea.

- Significantly increase the share of route railway shipments, form hub elevators in the regions that consolidate grain shipments to the size of the shipping route and carry out comprehensive pre-sale preparation of grain to export condition.

- Widely use heavy vehicles for the delivery of grain from Kuban and other regions of southern Russia to transshipment ports.

- The primary use of vehicles to relieve peak loads during the period of mass transportation of grain.

- Make wider use of the scheme for transporting grain by small-tonnage fleet (including the “river-sea” type with grain from river elevators) to the roadstead of the Kerch Strait with its further reloading onto ocean-going vessels.

- The existing capacities of the ports of the Azov Sea and the work of the fleet with a deadweight of 2-6 thousand tons should be reoriented towards the export of grain by direct grain flights to African countries that do not have deep-sea ports, transportation of individual consignments of non-mass grades of grain (oats, buckwheat, millet, etc.), seed fund, as well as for transporting grain to the Kerch roadstead.

Deep-water ports of Crimea have significant potential. Subject to the completion of the construction of the transport crossing through the Kerch Strait and the lifting of EU sanctions, a significant volume of grain transshipment can be transferred to these port facilities after some retrofitting with specialized transshipment and drying equipment.

The issue of the rhythm of grain arrivals at ports deserves attention. The transportation of this cargo is characterized by natural cyclicality, due to the ripening of the crop in our latitudes once a year. With a fairly high total productivity of transshipment equipment in ports during peak periods of mass transportation of new-harvest grain, both existing capacities in ports and specialized railway personnel are chronically insufficient.

Container transportation of grains opens up additional opportunities.

Russia exports mainly raw materials with low added value, while imports contain a large share of industrial products, new machinery and equipment. In view of this, for many years now, Russian imports of goods in containers by sea have exceeded containerized exports: in 2014 - 1.63 times, imports in containers by sea - 25.4 million tons, with exports of 15.55 million tons.

Thus, in the Azov-Black Sea basin in 2014, export transportation various cargoes in containers amounted to 2401 thousand tons with container imports of 4315 thousand tons. In the ports of southern Russia there is a constant surplus of large-tonnage containers owned by the world's largest shipowners. In order to reduce their own costs for sea transportation of empty units, shipping companies agree to load them in the opposite direction with Russian grain at moderate rates.

The role and external factors stimulating container transportation of grain. Substantial part supplies of domestic grain go as food aid to countries in Africa and the Middle East, mainly in transit through the ports of Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya as part of procurement and under the control of various governmental, non-governmental, religious, and international organizations, including UN committees that carry out targeted humanitarian food assistance, finance these activities in whole or in part, subsidizing purchases, and monitor the delivery of grain and its distribution.

In these regions, grain in large-capacity containers is delivered to its destinations faster and more safely and does not lose its presentation. While according to traditional technology, as a result of the spoiling of cargo during transshipment in foreign ports and during further land transportation, as well as theft of part of the cargo during transshipment, losses of part of the grain cargo inevitably occur. And the administrations of transit transshipment ports in developing countries turn a blind eye to grain theft.

It is easier for foreign organizations to carry out number-by-number accounting and control over the promotion of sealed containers with grain.

In addition, containers for loading with grain are delivered by road transport and arrive at the port with cargo also by road. During peak periods, this improves the situation at port railway stations, which are usually overcrowded with specialized rolling stock of grain carriers.

Currently, the basic technology is container transportation of grain with its mechanized loading into a horizontal container. However, when the container is positioned horizontally during loading, it is possible to fill no more than 90-92% of its volume, which leads to underutilization of its carrying capacity.

At the same time, it is becoming more and more practical advanced technology transportation of bulk cargo (grain, seeds, cones, cut rubber, wood chips, pellets, a number of ferroalloys, expanded clay, etc.) with the container tilted vertically during loading. In this option, the large-capacity container is installed vertically. The increase in loading occurs due to the complete filling of the internal cargo space and a certain self-compaction of the cargo due to the pressure of the upper layers on the lower ones. According to statistics, for different varieties For grain, this increase is 6-8%, which has a positive effect on the final economic indicators, especially for long-distance sea exports, since sea freight for transportation is set for one container.

To move the container to a vertical position and back, special equipment is used - container tilters. This is due to the fact that when a filled container is lowered into a horizontal position by a crane, an ever-increasing moment occurs on the pendant, which is not held by the braking devices on the crane winches.

Rotators are produced by global manufacturers in stationary and mobile versions. The tilter for twenty-foot containers is a device weighing about 7-9 tons that provides tilting of a 24- or 30-ton container into a vertical position using two hydraulic cylinders. The hydraulic station has electric drive. In the mobile version, an autonomous unit of a gasoline or diesel generator (power 3-4 kW) is used, or the device is connected to an external three-phase current network of 380 volts.

In Russian conditions, mobile tilters have found greater use, a significant proportion of which are rented from foreign intermediary companies. If necessary, they are transported from one site of an enterprise or terminal to another to perform work on loading bulk cargo into covered containers. The movement of tilters is usually carried out assembled on railway platforms, because both ports and most large enterprises countries, including elevators, have railway access roads.

Another way to increase the grain capacity of an enlarged cargo unit is the use of interchangeable bodies according to the EU standard DIN EN 284-1992. Swap bodies have a rigid frame with ISO container fittings, but a longer body length and, accordingly, grain capacity. They are reloaded using container equipment and transported on specialized container rolling stock of land transport. Sea transportation of replacement bodies is characterized by the widespread use of ro-ro (ro-ro) technology for loading and unloading on board a vessel and the use of ferries and ro-ro ships.

In general, the use of new logistics technologies and modern equipment is a necessary condition for the high-quality provision of transport for Russian grain exports, the role of which is steadily increasing for the country’s economy.

Marine News of Russia No. 17 (2015)

Maritime transport is one of the most best methods transportation of grain, oil, minerals and other resources and goods. People have used this method since ancient times, and still use it today. Modern technical means allow this to be done quickly and with minimal energy consumption.

The main problems in the development of the water transport market in Ukraine.

First of all, the main problem is corruption associated with government regulation and monopolization of this industry. There is only one large operator in the river transportation of grain and several operators in sea transportation on the market, and they actively lobby their interests in the government, and this greatly limits the development of the market. And it should be, like in the USA, that anyone who is ready to invest money in this business can build their own export terminal or buy a barge or sea ship, compete and engage in this business.

Another very important problem is the unavailability of inexpensive bank financing, and in some cases banks refuse to finance even very successful projects, and government financing is generally not available for honest private businesses in Ukraine.

Logistics chain of grain import and export (Figure 1).

Typically, grain is transported to a port for subsequent export by road or rail.

RFig 1. A scheme for the export and import of grain, in which the transportation of grain from commercial and farm elevators to a storage terminal within the country is carried out using rail or road transport. This can also be done using water transport(usually these are barges of various capacities). Barges can be used to transport grain to the port export terminal (picture according to Bühler Group)

And in recent years, transportation by rail has become uninteresting for grain traders, since this market is very much monopolized, and this does not bring any benefit other than harm. Transportation takes a long timeAndvery expensive. And tariffs for transportation by rail are constantly increasing, there are not enough wagons at the required times, the wagons are worn out, you need to constantly pay some kind of fines, and there is also a deterioration in the quality of transported grain due to the poor technical and hygienic condition of the wagons. When transporting grain by rail, there are often logistical and other errors, downtime caused by subjective factors and theft.

In this regard, at present, such areas as transportation by road and water transport are intensively developing.

The transportation of grain by water is best developed in the USA. In this country, transporting grain and other goods by barge is a whole industry.

River grain terminals.

Such terminals in Ukraine can play a significant role in the export and import of grain. Moreover, Ukraine has good transport arteries for water transport - the Dnieper and the Southern Bug. On other rivers, transportation for various reasons is difficult. The Dnieper is also very interesting because in most areas this river is regulated and does not have a strong current, which is important for the return transportation of barges.

Also, many transport routes require significant investments in work related to deepening the fairway and water areas. Typically, grain is transported along rivers using barges and tugs (photo 1). Terminals located in the lower reaches and river deltas can also be visited by larger ships - grain carriers.

The terminals themselves can be the most various designs: from simple berths to complex automated complexes (photo 2-5).

In this case, transportation by barges can be carried out to ports where grain is transshipped from a barge to a sea grain ship.

During the construction of any grain terminals, ideal option, is the possibility of loading a vessel with grain directly at the pier, and this requires good depth at the pier construction site, which allows the vessel to come directly to the shore and moor at the pier. If the depth does not allow the ship to approach directly to the shore, then this is not a problem, since the grain can be transported to the grain ship using a conveyor/conveyor over a long distance. This applies to both large seaports, and to river grain terminals (photo 1.1, top; photo 4).

Big advantage for river navigation, is the availability automated system transportation control, while for a specific vessel captain, the location of his vessel and other vessels can be seen online, navigation parameters and various notifications along the route. This system works successfully in the USA and allows optimizing traffic flows.

Photo 1.1. Parking barges when transporting grain to the USA

Photo 1.2. When transporting by barges, greatest number fuel is wasted when moving against the current on rivers with strong currents

Photo. 1.3. River barge transportation is a cost-effective method of transporting grain. In the top photos (1.1, 1.2) grain transportation by barges to the USA. At the same time, grain transportation by barges can have quite intense traffic, even on small rivers (top photo). And barges can accumulate in the parking lot (“parked”) before being loaded into them grain. In the lower photo 1.3 - transportation using barges in Ukraine along the Dnieper (Nibulon)

Photo 2. A simple river terminal in the USA. Transportation to the port can be carried out using barges. Loading of grain is carried out using simple mechanisms - front loaders, cranes with buckets, cranes for big bags or grain conveyors, which allow you to unload grain directly into a barge directly from grain trucks. At the same time, barges can also be loaded with other types of raw materials - mineral fertilizers, mineral raw materials, coal, and so on. This segment of river terminals in Ukraine is practically undeveloped

Photo 3. Small automated river terminal in the USA. Such a terminal has a high capacity for loading barges and allows you to transport grain from a silo to a barge using a mechanical conveyor / conveyor

Photo 4. Large river grain terminal "Bunge" in the USA. Absence required depth, which allows the barge to approach for loading, directly offshore, is not a problem. As you can see, there is no pier as such - the grain is transported using a conveyor to the fairway, where the barges are loaded. With such a load, there is no capital investment in dredging and concrete work, and the construction of the terminal requires less time and money. Also, with such a ship loading scheme, the number of areas where such a terminal can be built increases

Photo 5. Large river grain terminal in Ukraine. This terminal operates according to the following scheme: grain trucks - barge - sea ship - grain carrier. Transportation of grain in Ukraine using river transport has very good prospects, because Ukraine has a unique transport artery - the deep-water Dnieper River (photo © Dr. Oleksii Orlov)

Methods of grain transshipment.

There is a large number various methods and corresponding mechanisms and machines for unloading and loading barges and ships in the most. The most common grain reloading schemes:

Grain truck - sea ship;

Grain truck - port elevator - sea ship;

Grain truck - barge - sea ship;

Grain truck - barge - port elevator - sea ship;

Grain truck - river elevator - barge - port elevator - sea ship;

Railway transport - sea ship;

Railway transport - port elevator - sea ship;

Railway transport - barge - sea ship;

Railway transport - barge - port elevator - sea ship;

Rail transport - river elevator - barge - port elevator - sea ship

The use of elevators (silos for accumulation) allows you to accumulate grain up to required volumes export batch. It also allows for unloading/loading of barges in bad weather (if barge sheds are available).

Various mechanisms are used for grain handling (pneumatic and mechanical conveyors, front loaders, etc.). They can be installed permanently or transported. Cleaning of holds is usually carried out using small front-end loaders on crawler tracks, pneumatic loaders (analogues industrial vacuum cleaners) and manually. You should also strive to reduce the amount of manual labor during unloading and loading operations. It's always justified.

Photo 6. Direct transshipment of grain from grain trucks directly to a sea grain ship, which subsequently delivers the grain to the end consumer by sea. The limitation of this method is that this can only be done in deep-water ports located in river deltas or directly on the sea coast

Photo 7. Transshipment of grain on the roads from barges of the Nibulon company to a sea-going grain ship using a floating crane. This type of transshipment has both its advantages (for example, no berth or port is needed) and disadvantages (for example, it is impossible to work in bad weather, high costs for power supply to the crane, low productivity)

Conclusions.

From the very beginning of human civilization, trade was carried out by waterways. This is still true today. The development of grain transportation by water is a great prospect for business now, since such transportation does not require roads. This is a profitable business and great prospects for the national economy.

Types of elevators - what elevators are there

Advantages of metal silos. The main advantages of steel silos in comparison with other grain storage facilities (storage in warehouses, in polymer sleeves and concrete silos) Ground temporary grain storage. What is above-ground temporary grain storage and what opportunities does it open to the farmer?

©Agricultural Consulting Service -Agroconsulting. Technical audit of agribusiness. Agricultural projects and turnkey farms. Agribusiness consulting. Increasing the profitability of agricultural business, obtaining additional profits

One of the promising, profitable and investment-attractive areas of activity in Ukraine is the production of grains. Over the past 10 years, Ukraine has become one of the world leaders in the production and export of grains, demonstrating a stable increase in yields and growth in the export potential of agriculture. Favorable weather conditions in 2008 allowed harvest a record harvest of more than 53 million tons. 2009 was no less productive: about 49 million tons were collected. The 2010 harvest was smaller, but it still amounted to more than 45 million tons.

Ports of Ukraine, No. 04 (106) 2011
Gennady Skvortsov
Economics and Management

One of the promising, profitable and investment-attractive areas of activity in Ukraine is the production of grain.
Over the past 10 years, Ukraine has become one of the world leaders in the production and export of grain, demonstrating a steady increase in yields and growth in the export potential of agriculture.
Favorable weather conditions in 2008 made it possible to harvest a record harvest of more than 53 million tons. 2009 was no less productive: about 49 million tons were collected. The 2010 harvest was smaller, but it still amounted to more than 45 million tons.
The most important issue after harvest is the preservation and export of grain. Ukraine's domestic needs amount to 26-27 million tons, therefore, at least 23-27 million tons can be exported. To this figure should be added 3-4 million tons of exported oils
personal cultures. More than 90% export flow grains from Ukraine are shipped through ports - by sea (in bulk). For export, port grain elevators (terminals) are used.
From a logistics point of view, the Black Sea coast of Ukraine is ideally located for grain shipments. Large ship consignments can be shipped all over the world, small ship consignments - in the direction of the Mediterranean countries. Freight rates for shipments from the Black Sea ports in these directions are lower compared to shipments from countries such as Germany and France.
Transit transportation of grain from Russia and Kazakhstan is also becoming important factor in increasing the cargo turnover of Ukrainian ports. Russia and Kazakhstan are gravitating toward exports through Ukrainian Black Sea ports, and these countries are also building up their agricultural capabilities.
About 250 thousand tons of grain from Russia were exported in the last marketing year through Ukrainian seaports.
At the same time, there is a steady trend towards a decrease in transit volumes, and in my opinion, the transport sector plays a role in this.
The most important condition for ensuring grain exports is the availability of effective transport system, that is, the ability of road, rail and sea transport to ensure the fulfillment of the conditions for the delivery of goods in accordance with concluded contracts.
Today it is necessary to take a whole range of measures to improve and develop the existing road, rail and sea transportation of grain in Ukraine. We are talking about delivering grain to ports, increasing storage capacity for grain cargo in ports, providing services to bring the quality of grain to the level of European standards, performing analysis of grain quality, transshipment and customs clearance of commercial consignments, cargo insurance, and so on. All these works and services affect the final price of Ukrainian grains and their competitiveness in the market.

Sea transportation of grains in the Black Sea region
More than 90% of world grain trade is carried out by sea. A feature of the transportation of bulk cargo in Ukraine and the Black Sea region as a whole is that, for a number of reasons, grains are transported not only by heavy-duty vessels, but also by small and medium-sized vessels - with a carrying capacity from 3 to 10 thousand tons. Although, in order to reduce the cost of transporting goods in Lately While efforts are being made to increase the use of large-capacity fleets, the share of transportation of grain cargo by small and medium-sized vessels remains essentially unchanged.
Traditionally, the largest volumes of shipments through ports occur in September-December with a subsequent decline.
The maximum volume of monthly shipments (September 2008) is more than 2.6 million tons of grain.

Grain transshipment capacity of ports
In Ukraine, transshipment of export and transit grain cargo takes place in the waters of 13 sea trade ports out of 18. These include Ilyichevsky, Odessa, Yuzhny, Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, Nikolaevsky, Kherson, Skadovsky, Izmail, Reniysky, Berdyansky, Mariupol, Kerch , Sevastopol, Ust-Danube. Of these ports, 11 are located on the Black Sea, 2 ports on the Azov Sea. Transshipment is carried out either by the ports themselves, or by private terminals located in their waters.
In addition, some volumes of grain are exported through Ilyichevsk and Kerch fishing ports, Nikolaev, Kherson and Dnepropetrovsk river ports, berths and terminals of ship repair yards.
The unique position of Ukrainian ports and their proximity to a number of key markets (Middle East, North Africa, Europe) significantly increase the competitiveness of these ports, despite the efforts of other countries to develop their own port capacities.
The ports through which grain is exported can be roughly divided into 3 main groups:
The first group is ports in whose waters there are powerful specialized grain terminals. They count on cargo flows from all over Ukraine, as well as transit grain from Russia and Kazakhstan. This group of ports includes Ilyichevsk, Odessa, Yuzhny, and Sevastopol.
This group of ports has the following distinctive characteristics:
?possibility of loading large-tonnage Panamax vessels;
high speed of receiving/loading grain onto the ship (due to the availability of specialized equipment and mechanization schemes), traditional for port-elevator complexes (belt conveyors, bucket elevators, ship-loading machines);
— the presence of significant grain storage tanks.
The ports of the first group handle the largest portion of grain cargo, and their share in the total transshipment is estimated at 60-65%, depending on the season.
The second group is ports where there are specialized small-capacity grain terminals, non-specialized terminals converted for grain transshipment, and limited depths at the berths.
Their potential grain transshipment capacity is lower compared to ports of the 1st group (up to 1.5 million tons per year). This group of ports includes Nikolaev and Kherson.
The maximum size of vessels accepted by these ports reaches 35 thousand tons. The share of these ports ranges from 25% to 30%, depending on the season.
The third group is ports that do not have elevators or specialized terminals.
They are able to ensure grain exports using temporary or seasonal technology and a mechanization scheme that allows them to work using the direct “wagon-ship”, “vehicle-ship” and “barge-ship” options.
This group of ports includes Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, Reni, Skadovsk, Berdyansk, Ust-Dunaisk.
The ports of the third group account for about 16% of transshipped grain in the 2002/2003-2003/2004 seasons. In the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons, the share of these ports decreased to 5-7%. In 2008/2009, the share of these ports in total transshipment was 1.8%.
The declared throughput capacity of grain terminals in Ukrainian ports, according to research by a number of companies, is 32-34 million tons per year, however most of These terminals are located in shallow water and river ports. This circumstance significantly reduces the efficiency and profitability of export operations through such terminals.
In this regard, during peak periods of demand for shipment by sea, deep-sea terminals are 100% loaded, and at the same time, the demand for them is partially covered by the so-called direct option, the most risky and not optimal for the sender of the cargo and all transportation participants.
Therefore, it is difficult to agree with the opinion that Ukraine has sufficient capacity of port grain terminals to meet export needs.

Bandwidth
terminals in the amount of 32-34 million tons, shown in some studies, is only theoretical and does not reflect the real picture. After all, the capacity of 6 million tons of this amount is the capacity of terminals operating according to the “direct option”, i.e. having no warehouses for storing grain. These are typically places where grain is transshipped directly from railroad cars that are used as warehouses. Due to the increasing cost of such a service (the use of wagons as warehouses) and the decrease in the fleet of grain wagons, further growth in exports will lead to a limitation or prohibition of the use of wagons as warehouses. In addition, 17 million tons of transshipment capacity belong to grain traders and, as a rule, cannot be used by other competing traders. Finally, the indicated throughput does not take into account the arrhythmia of the market.
Our assessment is real bandwidth port grain terminals - 28 million tons (including 6 million tons of terminals direct option transshipment), of which less than 50% are modern high-tech terminals. Therefore, existing port facilities are not yet able to qualitatively meet the needs of growing grain exports.
In recent years, port grain transshipment capacities have been actively developing. Port terminals are complex and expensive engineering structures. However, investors showed active interest in
construction of new and expansion of existing transshipment capacities. The reasons for such an expensive hobby:
?presence of factors influencing the rhythm of grain export (state policy, certification, lack of regional storage facilities);
?dependence of grain owners on the unpredictability of terminal services of terminal owners (speculation on services, the ability to influence the formation of the grain market);
?desire for optimization transport services in terms of price and quality (increasing the tonnage of ship calls, refining goods, reducing the cost of terminal services to the cost level).
At the same time, only large traders can carry out the construction of terminals.
What should small and medium-sized producers do? In my opinion, today they are especially not protected, on the one hand, from the ill-conceived state policy, and on the other, from the dictates of transport service monopolists.
To avoid this, it is necessary to build an effective delivery system for agricultural products from the place of production to the consumer market that is as independent from external factors as possible. It is necessary to develop a network of regional commodity storage facilities in close proximity to transport networks and independent port terminals that rely on the provision of terminal services.

Transshipment in Russian ports is one and a half times more expensive than in competing countries.

Wheat production in Russia is the most competitive in the world, but competitiveness is almost completely leveled out in the process of delivering this wheat to the global market. This was stated by the President of the Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky at an expert discussion during the Gaidar Forum 2018, organized by RANEPA, where an Agroinvestor correspondent was present. “And with the advent of GMO wheat, I don’t think we will lose competitiveness in production. Another question is to what extent we can position our products on Russian market", Zlochevsky pointed out.

Thus, according to the expert, it is now more expensive in Russia than in other countries to transport grain by railway and much more expensive - transshipment in ports. “The cost of bets is one and a half times higher than in Rouen or the Gulf of Mexico. Today we transship a ton for at least $19, or even $22-23 per ton, while in Rouen [grain] is transshipped for 8-9 euros per ton, in the Gulf of Mexico - for $12 per ton,” Zlochevsky said.

Insufficient competition in Russia leads to such high prices, he believes. “The transshipment capacity in Russian ports is estimated at 60 million tons. This is clearly not enough. Thus, in America the capacity reserve is about 80%, in Europe - about 60%. And this ensures competition and, in fact, a fight between terminals for clients. And we are now distributing all quotas for large-tonnage transshipment among exporters at the beginning of the agricultural year. And there are still 100 percent fines for quotas if you don’t choose them,” Zlochevsky noted. In addition, certification documents in Russia are several times more expensive than in other competing countries. “And here we have huge reserves: if we are able to reduce the cost of this procedure and rid our supplies of administrative and other barriers, then we will remain competitive and remain leaders,” Zlochevsky is confident.

According to the forecast of the Russian Grain Union, in the 2017/18 season Russia will export more than 47 million tons, excluding legumes. “Maybe we’ll even reach 50 million tons,” he did not rule out. According to operational data from the Federal Customs Service of Russia as of January 10, since the beginning of the 2017/18 season, Russia has sent 28 million tons of grain crops abroad, which is 35% more than in the same period of the previous agricultural year. Since July 2017, 21.8 million tons of wheat have been exported, which is 34% more than in the 2016/17 season, and 3.6 million tons of barley (1.9 times more). Corn exports decreased by 2% compared to last year to 2.4 million tons. According to preliminary data from Rosstat, the gross grain harvest in 2017 amounted to 134.1 million tons compared to 120.7 million tons in 2016.

text by Olesya Merkulova

The image of Russian grain exports is threatened by complaints from importers about contaminants found in products supplied from the south. Rosselkhoznadzor has already checked 30 owners of grain loading areas in the ports of the Krasnodar Territory and Rostov region and threatens to suspend their work for 30 days. This happens against the backdrop of record grain exports from southern ports

Rosselkhoznadzor warned 30 companies that own grain loading platforms in the ports of the Krasnodar Territory and the Rostov Region about the possible suspension of their activities for 90 days due to identified serious sanitary violations, according to the agency’s website.We are talking about companies that own cargo platforms, relatively speaking, owners of berths, clarified “Expert South” in the press service of the department, without specifying the names of the companies and the location of the berths. Rosselkhoznadzor specialists examined the sites and foundgrain spills at loading points, quarantine weeds, lack of integrity of territory coverings, lack of equipment for neutralizing pests in most places, etc.” According to the department, this contradicts the Unified Quarantine Phytosanitary Requirements of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The reason for the inspections was the claims of importers (from Vietnam and Indonesia) about the quality of grain in which harmful organisms were found. In addition, Rosselkhoznadzor will strengthen control over grain transshipment and conduct repeated inspections.

“Statements about the possible suspension of the activities of grain export players occur against the backdrop of record grain exports,” recalls the ICAR analyst Oleg Sukhanov. - 15.5 million tons of grain were exported from Russia over the past three months - more than half of the so-called painless export potential, which was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture (30 million tons of grain). Although from my point of view, it could be 40 million tons of grain. At the same time, 14.2 million tons of grain were exported from the Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region.” According to him, this situation makes the Ministry of Agriculture worry and, perhaps, one of the levers for slowing the growth of export volumes is additional checks. “Even these statements themselves force grain traders to accept this risk and contract less, not play long, etc.,” the expert adds.

Rosselkhoznadzor rejects these accusations. The checks are not related to the desire to limit exports, but to complaints from importing countries about the quality of Russian products,” insists the representative of the department. “After Indonesia and Vietnam made complaints about the quality of our grain, we strengthened control and, accordingly, talked to both grain exporters and owners of goods transhipment sites about the need to take compliance with the requirements of importing countries more seriously. Otherwise, we will lose the markets that we have conquered, and there will simply be no talk of opening new markets,” says the head of the press service of Rosselkhoznadzor Julia Melano. She does not name the violating companies, but says that the list includes both large and small players. “Now everything is in the hands of these companies, if they correct the violations that were identified, and we do not find them during a re-examination, the issue will be dropped. Otherwise, we will initiate a suspension of activities for 90 days,” she added.

“In large ports, such a problem, in principle, cannot exist,” says Vladimir Beryants, a member of the board of directors of Krasnodarzernoprodukt. - We work with Novorossiysk seaport, and the level of control for all loadings there is very high. If Rosselkhoznadzor found violations, it was at some very small sites.” “There haven’t been such problems for many years; in general, the port infrastructure is very technologically advanced among the main players. I think these are some minor players,” adds Petr Svetlichny, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Grain Processing and Grain Receiving Enterprises of Kuban.

That grain transshipment in the Rostov region is two times cheaper than in the deep-water ports of the Black Sea. "This is ours competitive advantage"- noted Burakov.

According to the analytical center Rusagrotrans, the total capacity of Russian ports for transshipment of grain for export in the 2017/18 agricultural year amounted to about 55 million tons. Over the next five years, due to ongoing projects in the South, North-West, and Far East, it can increase as much as by at least 30 million tons, says the head of the center Igor Pavensky.

The 2017/18 season was marked by records for grain transshipment in all directions, Pavensky points out. Especially through the ports of Novorossiysk, Tuapse, Kavkaz (where volumes from small ports go for offshore transshipment), small ports, as well as the Baltic and Caspian Sea. Thus, according to the Rusagrotrans analytical center, the most large volume was sent abroad through Novorossiysk grain terminals - 18.2 million tons versus 12.2 million tons a year earlier. Small ports of the Azov-Black Sea basin collectively shipped almost 16 million tons compared to 10.7 million tons in 2016/17. The Caucasus significantly increased transshipment - up to 5.2 million tons against 3 million tons in the previous agricultural year. Moreover, about 11.8 million tons will actually be exported through this port during the season, since most of the volume exported through it passes through customs in small ports.