January 20, 2011

Ukraine to raise grain export quotas

The government of Ukraine has decided to raise the country's grain exports quotas, the agrarian policy minister said Wednesday (Jan 19).

"Now we are revising the previous restrictions and will soon set new quotas," stated Minister Mykola Prysiazhniuk.

Prysiazhniuk said his ministry planned to meet with grain traders to discuss the details later this month.

Ukraine's grain harvest in 2010 dropped by 14.6% compared with the previous year, according to official figures.

Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain exporters, has so far exported 6.7 million tonnes of grain during the current marketing year, which lasts from July 2010 until June 2011.

The country had announced that its grain exports in 2010 were limited to two million tonnes of corn, 500,000 tonnes of wheat and 500,000 tonnes of barley.