Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) will set up a railcar logistics business in Ukraine as the EBRD is providing a USD 35 million loan to support the operation of the company.
The loan will be used for the procurement of 1,000 grain-hopper railcars, which will significantly facilitate grain-handling logistics for the company. It is estimated that USD 70 million is the value of the acquisition.
Last year, LDC ordered 330 grain railcars, that lead to an increase of Ukraine’s rail export capacity by 600,000 tonnes annually. This procurement has an option to buy more in the next two years.
LDC will be able to diversify its means of transporting grains from the country’s agricultural areas to its ports. The company will be able to diversify its means of transporting grains from the country’s agricultural areas to its ports.
The new railcars will reduce the volume of grain transported by trucks and will therefore help to lower annual CO2 emissions by 8,510 tonnes.
In 2019, Ukraine is expecting a record grain harvest of more than 72 million tonnes, of which more than 50 million tonnes will be exported. Domestic grain-hopper railcars, most of which are heavily depreciated, carry 70 per cent of all grain traffic to the country’s seaports for export. The addition of new grain hoppers will significantly increase the effectiveness of grain-handling logistics and will strengthen Ukraine’s competitiveness in the market competition.
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