An agreement to restart Ukrainian grain exports through its deepwater ports could be a watershed, the president of MHP, Ukraine's largest food producer, said on Thursday, but he warned that bringing production to the shipping terminals still presents major challenges.

The war in Ukraine has caused an increase in global prices for grain, cooking oils, fuels and fertilizers, with Russia's blockade of seaports leaving dozens of ships stranded and about 20 million tons of grain trapped in silos in Odessa.

Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are expected to sign an agreement next week aimed at resuming Ukraine's grain exports in the Black Sea after negotiations in Istanbul.

While the potential deal has been positive, execution will be challenging, with ports needing to be demined and infrastructure damaged in Mykolaiv and Odessa, MHP President John Rich told Reuters in an interview.

"We still have to send the grain to the ports, and the infrastructure is difficult, we still have to do it under fire – Mykolaiv and Odessa have been hit by missiles in the last 72 hours," Rich said.

"I think (we can wait) a little time, water under the bridge, before we can be confident that this will solve the problem in the short term. In the medium term, maybe I can ease things up, but I think we have (to play a) waiting game."

Ukraine and Russia are the world's leading suppliers of wheat, and Russia is also a major fertilizer exporter. Ukraine is a significant producer of corn and sunflower oil.

Source: Notícias Agrícolas