UDP delivered 5 barges with Ukrainian iron ore to Serbia

On the way back, the caravan will pick up grain and head to the Romanian port of Constanta

Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company (UDP) has delivered five barges with iron ore to Serbia. The total deadweight of the caravan is 9 thousand tons. This was announced by UDP CEO Dmytro Moskalenko on his Facebook page.

On the way back, the caravan will take grain and head to the Romanian port of Constanta. Currently, agricultural products are being loaded at the port of the Serbian city of Novi Sad. Mineral fertilizers, construction materials and other goods are being delivered from Constanta to Ukraine.

«The voyage is long. It is very complicated in terms of organization. Every hour of downtime takes away a part of our profitability. To minimize losses, we need masterful coordination with all participants in the process,» he said.

Currently, 5 caravans are working on the line, and UDP plans to gradually increase their number.

«After modernizing the first batch of self-propelled vessels, we will extend the line to the Upper Danube. This will increase the duration of the voyage, but the volume of transportation will also increase,» Dmytro Moskalenko summarizes.

As GMK Center reported earlier, UDP and the Serbian steel company HBIS Group are considering options to deepen cooperation and significantly increase the volume of transportation of Ukrainian iron and steel products by the UDP fleet to Serbia. At the end of 2022, the companies signed a contract to transport 500 thousand tons of iron ore from Ukraine.

In 2024 share of iron and steel products complex in the UDP transportation structure may increase from 23% to 50%. The Middle Danube will play a key role in the transportation of UDP, and the place of agar products is expected to be taken by steel products.