KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine grain exports from Sept. 1-24 fell by 51% compared with the same period in 2022, Reuters reported, citing data from Ukraine’s agriculture ministry.

The war-torn country has seen its grain infrastructure under attack by Russia since it withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17, exported 1.57 million tonnes of grain during the first 24 days of September, down from 3.21 million tonnes the previous year.

Since pulling out of the grain deal, Russia reinstated its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, although Ukraine recently has begun shipping grain on a route that hugs the country’s coast. Russia also has stepped up its attacks on grain infrastructure at Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and on the Danube River over the last two months.

Ukraine’s overall grain exports for the 2023-24 marketing year, which began on July 1, is 6.2 million tonnes, down from 7.5 million during the same period the previous season, Reuters reported. The total so far this season includes 3 million tonnes of wheat, 2.5 million tonnes of corn and 590,000 tonnes of barley.

Ukraine is projected to produce 50.5 million tonnes of corn and wheat in 2023-24, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, down from 56.5 the previous marketing year and 75 million tonnes in 2021-22. Wheat and corn exports for the current year are forecast at a combined 30.5 million tonnes, down from 45.1 million in 2022-23.