April 3, 2009

Ukraine's grain exports hit a record 19.1 million tonnes so far in 2008-09 (July-June), compared with 1.4 million tonnes in the same period a year ago, UkrAgroConsult said Thursday (Apr 2).

Citing preliminary official data, UkrAgroConsult said wheat exports grew to 9.5 million tonnes so far in 2008-09 from 248,817 tonnes in 2007-08. Barley exports rose to 5.56 million tonnes from 284,556 tonnes while corn shipments increased to 3.47 million tonnes from 462,857.

Ukraine exported a total of four million tonnes of grain in 2007-08 due to export restrictions.

Grain exports in March grew to 2.458 million tonnes, up from 2.185 million tonnes in February, and is the second highest monthly volume in 2008-09, the consultancy said.

In March, wheat exports reached 1.1 million tonnes, corn increased to a record one million tonnes while barley totalled 248,200 tonnes.