Ukraine Corn Price Falls Below Growers' Cost Base
- Ukrainian corn is trading at $130 to $150 (about £98 to £113) a tonne FCA, against an expected $180 to $200 (about £136 to £151) a tonne.
- Rising diesel and haulage costs are cutting farmer margin before storage or export costs apply.
- Forward contracts signed for sea export are being rerouted through costlier alternative logistics routes.
The gap between the price growers budgeted for and what they are now receiving is being widened further by rising diesel, haulage and shipping costs.
Ukrainian corn is now trading at $130 to $150 (about £98 to £113) a tonne FCA, well below the $180 to $200 (about £136 to £151) a tonne that growers built into their cost of production at the start of the season. For buyers further down the chain, including UK manufacturers sourcing maize for animal feed, starch or glucose syrup, that gap is not simply good news on price, because much of it is being absorbed before the grain ever reaches a port.
Latifundist.com reports that Anton Besarab, agrocommerce director at the Ukrainian producer MHP, told the outlet SuperAgronom.com that domestic prices now sit at $130 to $150 (about £98 to £113) a tonne FCA, depending on region and sale terms. He said this is substantially below the $180 to $200 (about £136 to £151) a tonne range producers had expected when planning the season's economics.
Besarab said lower prices are not the only problem. Diesel and road haulage costs have risen at the same time, pushing up the cost of moving grain from the field to the elevator. That further narrows farmer margin before any cost of storage or export is even added.
A separate pressure comes from forward contracts signed between winter and summer 2026, which priced in cheaper logistics and the assumption of unrestricted sea export. Besarab said complications with sea exports now mean some of those contracts have to be fulfilled through more expensive alternative routes, which he said directly cuts the margin on every tonne of grain.
For a UK manufacturer buying Ukrainian corn into animal nutrition or starch processing, the headline price drop may not translate fully into cheaper contracts, if a supplier's logistics costs are rising at the same time. Where forward contracts route through sea export, buyers should check with suppliers whether those shipments are still moving by sea or have shifted to costlier alternative routes, since that affects both landed cost and reliability of delivery timing.
Besarab said the next stage for the corn market depends on how quickly the harvest comes in, how fast storage capacity frees up, export demand, and whether sea logistics stabilise.