Germany increases grain imports from Ukraine since start of full-scale war

The German federal government confirms the increase in Ukrainian grain imports in recent years and at the same time refutes reports of the negative impact on its market.

This is reported by the Bavarian publication Wochenblatt, specialized in agricultural news, Ukrinform reports.

Grain imports have been growing since 2022, when the Russian war against Ukraine began. The import of fodder and food grain from Ukraine to Germany has peaked in recent years at about 741,000 tons. In the first half of 2024, volumes approached 490,000 tons. The largest share in imports is corn. This year, until July, Germany imported about 447,000 tons of corn against 619,000 tons on year. Last year, wheat imports were extremely high at almost 106,000 tons, but from the beginning of 2024 to July 2024, only about 16,500 tons were registered. Before Russia’s full-blown incursion into Ukraine, wheat imports ranged from 6,000 to 2,000 tons.

The federal government also emphasized that they have no information about any deviations from the requirements and standards during inspections of Ukrainian grain by the watchdog agency. According to the federal government, food and feed imported into the EU from third countries, such as Ukraine, must also comply with EU standards.

These data are contained in the federal government's response to questions from the far-right Alternative for Germany parliamentary faction.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, since the beginning of the 2024/2025 marketing year (MR), as of October 30, Ukraine has exported 14.140 million tons of grain and leguminous crops.