Two more grain ships left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk on Tuesday, Turkey's Defense Ministry said, as part of a deal to unblock Ukrainian maritime exports.
As a result, the total number of vessels that left the country under the safe passage agreement rose to 12.
Ocean Lion left for South Korea carrying 64,720 tonnes of maize, while Rahmi Yagci carried 5,300 tonnes of sunflower flour to Istanbul, the ministry said.
The United Nations and Turkey brokered the deal last month after warnings that the halt in shipments of grains caused by the Russia Ukraine conflict could lead to severe food shortages and even famines in parts of the world.
Four ships that left Ukraine on Sunday are moored near Istanbul and will be inspected on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry statement said.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, in what Moscow calls a "special operation" to demilitarize its neighbor, the two countries together accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.
The resumption of grain exports is being overseen by a Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, where Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN officials are working.
Ukraine expects to export 20 million tonnes of grain in silos and 40 million tonnes of its new crop, the country's economic adviser Oleh Ustenko said in July.
The government hopes to raise $10 billion for its battered economy from these volumes, but Ustenko said it could take 20 to 24 months to export them if the ports are not functioning properly.
Sources: investing.com
