KYIV: About 700,000 metric tons of grain have been exported through Ukraine's new Black Sea export corridor since it began operating in August, the Ukrainian agriculture minister said.

Ukraine launched a "humanitarian corridor" to release ships bound for African and Asian markets, and to circumvent a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned a deal this summer that had guaranteed its exports during the war.

A senior agricultural official said later that month it was considering using the route for grain shipments.

"During the operation of the new corridor, 38 ships entered the ports and more than 30 left, not all of them with grain, of course," the agriculture ministry quoted Mykola Solsky as saying late on Monday.

"However, we managed to export almost 700,000 tons of grain."

The export deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey collapsed in July as Russia declined to recognise it, saying its demand that sanctions on its grain and fertiliser exports be lifted had not been met.

Ukraine had been exporting up to 3 million tons a month of food via the corridor while it was operating, with its total food exports, including alternative routes, reaching up to 6 million tons per month.

Solsky said that in September Ukraine had also exported 2.3 million tons of agricultural goods from small Ukrainian river ports on the Danube River. He said overall food exports totalled 3.6 million tons last month.

"We need to export about 6 million tons per month to preserve our agriculture as a key sector of the economy," Solsky said.

This volume of transportation can only be ensured by restoring the full operation of the country's deepwater ports in the Odesa region, he added.

"We see a trend towards an increase in the number of ships leaving our ports. We hope it will continue," Solsky said.

Ukrainian agricultural producers this week said the new Black Sea corridor could enable exports of up to 2.5 million metric tons of food a month, almost offsetting the impact of Russia's decision to quit the U.N.-brokered deal.

Ukraine's shipping sources said more than 40 cargo vessels have entered the corridor so far.

Agriculture ministry data shows that as of Oct. 23, Ukrainian grain exports were down 29.7% at 8.3 million tons in the 2023/24 July-June season so far.

Ukraine is expected to harvest 79 million tons of grain and oilseed in 2023, with 2023/24 exportable volumes of about 50 million tons, agriculture ministry estimates.