The charter rates for grain carriers of Ukrzaliznytsia have risen to the highest level since 2023, leading to an increase in the cost of transportation.

Attacks and damage to railway infrastructure, as well as power outages both at loading and unloading locations in ports, have reduced the turnover of grain car wagons and led to a sharp increase in tariffs for rail and, subsequently, road transport. Due to the delay in the corn harvest, suppliers in November needed additional wagons to speed up deliveries to the port. Rail transport rates for distances up to 500 km increased by 30% over two months, and in some cases by 50% - from 700 to 1000-1300 UAH/t. And after the latest auctions for state grain cars, forwarders raised their rates for November by 2-3 times compared to September-October. This led to an increase in road transport prices, and now it is sometimes cheaper to deliver cargo by road than by rail. Thus, according to the results of the auctions on "Prozorro.Sales" on November 11, the weighted average cost of using grain cars owned by PJSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" reached the highest level of 2023 at 5378 UAH/day (excluding VAT), ...