[GK3]

I get the insurance issue so my next question is whether or not it is really impractical to ship the grain by rail?  As it is they have to get the stuff to Odessa to start.  I know one of the major grain growing region borders Moldova so Odessa is not so far away, nor is taking the grain across the border into Moldova.  Of course Moldova may want to stay as neutral as possible.  Maybe it is just a case of you can't move enough bulk unless you move it by ship.

Your last sentence sums it up. Transporting grain by rail is much more expensive than doing so by ship, and the rail links between Ukraine and Europe have limited capacity. There is also the gauge problem. Europe uses the "standard gauge" of 1435mm while Ukraine (and Russia) use 1520mm. Anything loaded in Ukraine has to be unloaded and reloaded or the rail trucks have to be interchanged. Commodities like grain are very expensive to ship that way. People and machines are bad enough, but their "value per ton" is much greater than grain. Poland still has lots of 1520, so going out of Polish ports is easier. This was done before the original grain deal was done and continued after, but the additional costs are a problem to the Ukrainian farmers. Antwerp, Hamburg, etc require the gauge change and are prohibitive.

Ukraine and Romania have just opened a "new" rail link in the far west. It doesn't appear it is yet ready for much traffic though.
https://www.railtech.com/infrastructure/...o-romania/
Ukraine can and does export grain via Romania, but not using this rail route.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/rom...023-07-06/

Ukraine and Moldova recently reopened their rail link, but it too isn't very "robust". They also don't have any real access to the Black Sea. What they have is courtesy of Ukraine and not really viable as an export location.

EU comments on the situation: https://www.railtech.com/infrastructure/...er-states/

We in the US (and Canada) are absolutely spoiled by our freight railway system. Despite its many faults, it carries tonnage every day that European railroads only dream about (and those dreams are nightmares :-)). The "grainers" going from the Midwest to Long Beach/Vancouver/Prince Rupert to load the grain ships are amazing and the costs are reasonable. Some very long, very heavy trains.
https://www.rupertport.com/terminal_deta...-terminal/

Completely forgot about the gauge change!! Thanks for that infrastructure link. If you ever ride the Via Rail system from Vancouver to Eastern Canada you can see for yourself how long those trains are.

[GK3]

I get the insurance issue so my next question is whether or not it is really impractical to ship the grain by rail?  As it is they have to get the stuff to Odessa to start.  I know one of the major grain growing region borders Moldova so Odessa is not so far away, nor is taking the grain across the border into Moldova.  Of course Moldova may want to stay as neutral as possible.  Maybe it is just a case of you can't move enough bulk unless you move it by ship.

Your last sentence sums it up. Transporting grain by rail is much more expensive than doing so by ship, and the rail links between Ukraine and Europe have limited capacity. There is also the gauge problem. Europe uses the "standard gauge" of 1435mm while Ukraine (and Russia) use 1520mm. Anything loaded in Ukraine has to be unloaded and reloaded or the rail trucks have to be interchanged. Commodities like grain are very expensive to ship that way. People and machines are bad enough, but their "value per ton" is much greater than grain. Poland still has lots of 1520, so going out of Polish ports is easier. This was done before the original grain deal was done and continued after, but the additional costs are a problem to the Ukrainian farmers. Antwerp, Hamburg, etc require the gauge change and are prohibitive.

Ukraine and Romania have just opened a "new" rail link in the far west. It doesn't appear it is yet ready for much traffic though.
https://www.railtech.com/infrastructure/...o-romania/
Ukraine can and does export grain via Romania, but not using this rail route.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/rom...023-07-06/

Ukraine and Moldova recently reopened their rail link, but it too isn't very "robust". They also don't have any real access to the Black Sea. What they have is courtesy of Ukraine and not really viable as an export location.

EU comments on the situation: https://www.railtech.com/infrastructure/...er-states/

We in the US (and Canada) are absolutely spoiled by our freight railway system. Despite its many faults, it carries tonnage every day that European railroads only dream about (and those dreams are nightmares :-)). The "grainers" going from the Midwest to Long Beach/Vancouver/Prince Rupert to load the grain ships are amazing and the costs are reasonable. Some very long, very heavy trains.
https://www.rupertport.com/terminal_deta...-terminal/

Completely forgot about the gauge change!! Thanks for that infrastructure link. If you ever ride the Via Rail system from Vancouver to Eastern Canada you can see for yourself how long those trains are.