Grain prices continue to fall in Poland despite ban on supplies from Ukraine

According to Agrolok.pl price monitoring, starting from April 19, wheat prices on the Polish market continue to fall. Thus, as of April 19, the average purchase price of a ton of wheat in Poland was PLN 1,050, and as of April 27, it dropped to PLN 920. During this time, corn price fell from PLN 1,050 to PLN 930, and rapeseed price from PLN 2,060 to PLN 1,880.

Before the embargo on Ukrainian food, the Polish Agrounia (farmers' union), which was the most active in organizing protests against Ukrainian products, blamed the collapse in prices on Ukrainian traders who sold products at dumping prices, but now they blame Polish resellers and the government's failed agricultural policy. 

"Law and Justice politicians decided that they would provide additional payments for Polish farmers. Although this should be called cost equalization due to the wrong decisions of Law and Justice politicians. And what do we have now?  What are the companies that trade grain and used to make money on the Ukrainian grain trade doing? In a week, wheat fell by PLN 150, and rapeseed – by PLN 250 per ton," says Michał Kolodziejczak, head of Agrounia. "Why is this happening? Because Law and Justice has set two months for the sale and additional payments, the intermediaries say: if you don't sell to us during this period, you won't get the additional payment. So get in line, because there is not enough time. And so these extra payments lose their meaning."  

• Since February of this year, Polish farmers have repeatedly blocked checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. They claimed that Ukrainian grain, which was supposed to be transiting through Poland only, was entering the Polish market, causing prices to plummet. 

• On April 15, official Warsaw approved a ban not only on the import of Ukrainian grain and other food products to Poland, but also on transit through Poland. A spokesman for the European Commission said that unilateral actions by EU member states on trade were unacceptable. 

• On April 18, it became known that as a result of negotiations that lasted two days, it was decided to unblock transit through Poland to European ports for Ukrainian agricultural products. Transit is scheduled to resume on April 21.

• On April 21, Poland unblocked the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products to Polish seaports, the Netherlands, and other EU countries. Later, the Polish side clarified that only those trucks with agricultural products that have enough fuel in the tank to cross the territory of Poland without stopping at gas stations would be allowed to transit. Later, it turned out that Poland did not have enough convoys to escort the transit trucks with Ukrainian food, so they were returned to the checkpoint.