May 30, 2012

Ukraine's 2012 grain harvest forecast up to 47.2 million tonnes

Ukraine's grain harvest forecast for 2012 has been lifted on Tuesday (May 29) by the Ukrainian Agricultural Ministry to 47.2 million tonnes from 45 million-46 million tonnes estimated previously.

"If it rains in Ukraine's South regions, the harvest could reach even 48 million tonnes," Sergey Petrenko, the deputy head of the ministry's economic development department, said at an Agro Industry Forum held in Kiev.

Ukraine will have 11 million tonnes of grain in carryover inventories when the coming crop year begins on July 1, Petrenko said.

Thus, the country hopes to export 22 million-25 million tonnes of grain between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013, he said.

In the current marketing year, Ukraine has already exported around 19.7 million tonnes of grain, Petrenko said, adding that the country is expected to export some three million tonnes more until June 30, 2012.

In 2011 Ukraine saw an all-time record grain harvest of nearly 56 million tonnes.