Ukraine lost up to $400M in imports due to the border blockade in February; exports are close to pre-war levels.

According to the NBU, in February there was no increase in the import of goods, which is typical for this month, due to the resumption of the blockade of the western borders. Thus, import losses amounted to $350-400M in February. The biggest declines were in purchases of food products, industrial products, and wood.

However, the import of petroleum products and individual chemical products (fertilizers and pharmaceuticals) increased. This may indicate a less-than-complete blockage of road transport for military goods and the reorientation of these goods to other trade and transport routes.

In February, grain exports were the highest since the start of the full-scale invasion and only marginally lower than in January 2022.

At the same time, the export of MMC products slowed somewhat due to the shifting of the supply of these products to Asian countries, which was caused by the crisis in the Red Sea and lower demand from China.

In general, the export of goods in January-February was almost identical to the indicators from before the full-scale invasion.