Shipping of grains

We have been committed to ensuring shipping services to transport grains and their derivatives, including middlings and oils, from Poland and Ukraine to Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.

We mostly handle shipments of corn, wheat, and rapeseed, including rapeseed meal and oil. We provide transport services to Hamburg, Drentwede, Fürstenwalde, Brake, Rostock, Lubeck, Frankfurt am Main, Oss, or Rotterdam, among others. To transport coal, we use a range of railroad freight cars such as hopper cars with opening doors on the underside to discharge its cargo (Tads, Tadgns, Uagps, Tagnpps), cars with opening doors on the sides (TALNS), and coal cars used to haul grain, covered with a tarp. We also provide full customs support services at the EU border (Poland-Ukraine border crossings) and in a country of destination anywhere in Western Europe.

In 2022 and 2023, we took action to support the export of Ukrainian grain via Poland and Germany. A new export route was considered a much-needed option along an east-west axis to link Ukrainian grain producers and German ports and processing facilities. The biggest challenge was to provide cross-border services where standard and broad gauges meet as well as to tackle customs and phytosanitary issues to meet all food safety standards.

With a smooth handling of grain freight cars, long-distance railway corridors of 1,300–1,500 km were created to ensure the most cost-effective and competitive shipping solution.

We have shipped more than 30,000 tons of grain from Ukraine to terminals in Hamburg and Drentwede. We managed to secure the export of Ukrainian grain despite the partial blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. This helped secure supply chains and food security across Europe despite ongoing hostilities. We comply with all protocols and restrictions in grain transportation to European countries. We also use custom transit procedures to move goods through Polish territory.