The article explores the economic efficiency of using container transportation within the structure of Ukraine’s agricultural exports amid the transformation of logistics routes. Due to the full-scale war and blockade of seaports since 2022, the Ukrainian agricultural sector has faced new challenges in ensuring the stable export of products, particularly grains, oilseeds, and their processed derivatives. In this context, container logistics has gained strategic importance as a more flexible and adaptive delivery tool capable of partially compensating for the loss of traditional transportation channels. The paper outlines the specifics of containerized transportation in agriculture, considering the characteristics of agricultural products, seasonal supply patterns, sensitivity to mechanical losses, and strict delivery time requirements. It emphasizes that containerization enables the shipment of small consignments, ensures better cargo preservation, reduces transshipment time, and optimizes the cost structure of logistics over the long term. The study includes statistical analysis of agricultural export volumes for the period 2017–2023, visualizes export dynamics through graphs, identifies the product export structure, and calculates the share of container transport within total agricultural exports. It provides examples of functioning rail and multimodal routes, particularly through Yagodyn, Gdańsk, and the Danube ports. The paper also compares the transportation costs of agricultural goods across different transport modes – barges, trucks, and container trains – assessing their economic feasibility depending on distance, product type, and export destination. Key advantages of containerization are identified: reduction of mechanical and biological losses, door-to-door integration of transport chains, minimization of idle time, and improved predictability in supply chains. At the same time, several systemic barriers are noted, including the shortage of container equipment, high cost of logistics services, and underdeveloped border infrastructure. Based on these findings, the article proposes solutions to expand container logistics capacities: the development of dry ports, logistics subsidies, and modernization of cross-border railway terminals. The results of the study confirm the existence of a solid potential for scaling container transport in Ukraine’s agricultural sector, which can enhance export resilience, lower logistical risks, and adapt agri-exports to the evolving geopolitical and economic realities.
Olkhovskyi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.