US says Ukraine grain exports near pre-war levels

Ukraine is on course to ship nearly as much grain this month as it did before the Russian invasion, in a triumph for international efforts to ease food shortages, a US official said Tuesday.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil, shipping around five million metric tons of grain each month before the war.

Its exports ground to a trickle after the February 24 invasion, contributing to a spike in global food prices that has hit poor nations especially hard.