March 1, 2004

Ukraine 2003-04 Corn Export Forecast Down 20%

Ukraine's corn export forecast for the 2003-4 marketing year has been lowered to 800,000 metric tons from the earlier estimate on one million tons, Ukraine's grains association Vice President Sergey Stoyanov said in Kiev.
 

Stoyanov said the lower forecast was caused by corn shortages on the domestic market and high domestic prices.
 

Ukraine harvested in 2003 6.9 million tons of corn, compared with 4.17 million tons in 2002. Despite the higher harvest, domestic demand has increased for corn due to a shortage of feed grains because of a poor grain harvest of just over 20 million tons, around half the previous year.

This year the corn planted area is planned at about the level of 2003, two million hectares, giving a likely corn harvest at 7-10 million tons.