Ukraine is a key supplier of some commodities to Spain

The Spanish primary sector was already struggling with a substantial rise in energy and other input prices, combined with a prolonged period of drought. Ukraine's invasion is adding problems to sectors such as livestock farming and also the food industry and food retailing. This is now due to the impossibility of importing raw materials such as cereals and sunflower oil from Ukraine. Ukraine is Spain's second largest cereal supplier Spain has a strong livestock sector (it is China's leading supplier of pig meat) as well as a strong feed manufacturing sector, while at the same time it has a structural deficit in cereals. In 2021 (Fig. 1), Spain imported from Ukraine 18.4% of its total cereals purchased on international markets, worth 545 million euros, being its second largest trading partner after Brazil. In this scenario of possible shortages, Spain's cereal imports from Russia must also be taken into account (Fig. 2). In the case of corn, a staple for the manufacture of animal ...