Lebanon refuses Ukrainian corn cargo

A Lebanese buyer refused to accept a Ukrainian corn cargo carried by the Razoni — the first ship departing from Ukrainian seaports under the UN brokered deal — because of delayed delivery, according to the Ukrainian embassy to Lebanon.

"According to the information provided by the shipper of the Ukrainian grain aboard the Razoni, the buyer in Lebanon refused to accept the cargo owing to delays in delivery terms (more than five months)," the Ukrainian embassy to Lebanon said on its official Facebook account on Monday.

Officials noted that the shipper is now looking for another consignee to offload his cargo either in Lebanon or Tripoli or any other country or port.

Market participants said that the final cargo destination was Syria, with the cargo expected to be discharged in Lebanon and then transited to Syria. But a Syrian buyer cancelled the purchase because of payment issues, as the country now struggles to get hard currency to pay for its imports.

The Razoni left the Ukrainian port of Odesa last week, carrying about 26,500t of corn. The ship first declared for Lebanon but has since been at anchor offshore Turkey and is yet to declare a final destination.

About 305,000t of agricultural products have been shipped from Ukraine's Pivdennyi, Odessa and Chornomorsk ports as of Monday, with two more vessels — Rahmi Yaggi and Ocean Lion — leaving Chornomorsk port today loaded with about 5,500t of sunflower meal and 64,500t of corn, respectively, declared to Turkey and South Korea (see table).

By Kristin Yavorska