January 27, 2011

Ukraine to raise grain export quotas, scrap later

Ukraine is seen to raise the current grain export quotas, adding one million tonnes for wheat and 1.7 million tonnes for corn in the course of March, then scrap the quotas altogether afterwards, an official said Wednesday (Jan 26).

"We are now studying the grain balance, and we are most likely to increase the existing grain export quota. The Economy Ministry is drafting a government decree to that effect. It will happen before the end of March. At the end of March we will try to scrap the grain export quota altogether because the new harvest is near," said Agriculture Minister Mykola Prisyazhnyuk.

Ukraine imposed grain export quotas in early October to last until March 31. The quota is 4.2 million tonnes, including three million tonnes of corn and one million tonnes of wheat.

Ukraine's grain harvest in 2010 fell 14.8% on the year to 39.23 million tonnes in clean weight due to severe drought.