Ukraine is stepping up grain exports via the Danube River and Romania’s Sulina Canal. A total of 16 cargo ships have passed through the Danube’s Bystre river mouth region in the last four days, the government said. The country is trying to move a mountain of stranded produce that can no longer be exported by sea due to Russian port blockades. Ukraine has already revealed that some grain is being transported overland for shipment on vessels from Baltic ports.

Deputy infrastructure minister Yuriy Vaskov has now said that Ukraine will now attempt to maintain the pace of Danube exports. He said another 16 vessels were waiting to be loaded at the river mouth, while 90 more ships were awaiting their turn outside the Sulina Canal. Only four vessels can transit each day along the Sulina route, he said, while a rate of eight per day is needed. But Ukraine is negotiating with Romania and European Commission representatives about increasing the rate, the minister said. If this could be achieved, the government believes ship congestion there would end within a week and that monthly exports of grain would increase by 500,000 tonnes.

Before Russia’s invasion, seaports accounted for about 80% of Ukraine’s export of agricultural products. TradeWinds reported on Thursday that a deal could be signed as early as next week that would open a corridor to allow Ukraine’s grain exports to flow more freely from the Black Sea again. The agreement could spare the bulker market a blow later this year when the country’s exports seasonally play a key role in global dry bulk volumes.

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar said a deal will be signed next week that will see his country ensure the safety of Black Sea export routes and set up a coordination centre with Ukraine, Russia, and the United Nations, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said the talks to resume grain exports have made progress, but he was less certain that a deal is imminent. “Next week, hopefully, we’ll be able to have a final agreement. But, as I said, we still need a lot of goodwill and commitments by all parties,” he said, according to an Al Jazeera report.