January 18, 2012

With the current situation of Ukrzaliznytsia cars shortage, in which Ukrainian grain is exported, it is predicted that exports shortage by the end of 2012 will amount to almost 20 million tonnes, Ukrainian Grain Association President Volodymyr Klymenko said.

"Before the end of the year, Ukraine must export about 20 million tonnes more.... Including sunflower, soy and rape.... Shall we export four million tonnes a month? This is an absolutely impossible task," Klymenko said.

"The Grain Association appeals to the Cabinet of Ministers with the request that the situation with the export of grain was examined in detail, involving all the ministries and departments concerned, to decide what to do to ensure Ukrainian exports this year, because if we continue to export two million tonnes a month, we will not have a balance of nine million tonnes, in the case of substantial loss of winter crops - we will have the remains of 19 million tonnes," he added.

Klymenko said that today, of 10 thousand railcars, about 1.1 thousand Ukrzaliznytsia cars work for the CIS countries, and the remaining nearly 9,000 cars, which operate in Ukraine today, practically cannot service the volume of exports provided by this year's harvest.

According to him, Ukraine has plants that are able to produce more than 9,000 freight cars per year, but Ukrzaliznytsia did not order a single car in 2010-11.

Despite the goal set by the President that by 2016 Ukraine produce about 80 million tonnes of grain, Ukrzaliznytsia is not planning to purchase before 2016 any new cars suitable for the carriage of grain.

According to the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation, grain exports from Ukraine in the current marketing year (July 2011-June 2012) are expected to be 21.8-22.3 million tonnes, which is associated with the demand in foreign markets and logistics capabilities, rather than the potential of resources free from domestic demand.

Since the beginning of MY 2011-12, Ukraine has exported 9.65 million tonnes of grain, an increase of 2.86 million tonnes (29.6%) over last year.

The 2011 grain harvest was 56.7 million tonnes.