June 28, 2010

Ukraine is likely to harvest 45-45.5 million tonnes of grain this year, which is slightly less than the earlier forecast of 46-47 million tonnes, according to the agriculture ministry.

The forecast for the country's grain export in the 2010-2011 marketing year has also been reduced, down at 21 million tonnes from the earlier estimate of 22-24 million tonnes.

The lower grain harvest outlook is attributed to adverse weather conditions and the lower grain export estimate is based on the high grain reserves in neighbouring Russia. The Ukrainian agriculture ministry said grain stocks which Russia earlier intended to use on the domestic market would now be exported, which would reduce Ukraine's opportunities for selling its own grain on the world market.

The agriculture ministry also said Ukraine's grain export in the current marketing year would amount to 20.7 million tonnes compared with 24.6 million tonnes in the 2008-2009 marketing year.

In 2009 Ukraine's grain harvest fell to 48 million tonnes from 53 million tonnes in 2008. The country's domestic annual grain requirement is 26-27 million tonnes.