September 4, 2009

Ukraine's grain exports in July-August 2009 reached 3.972 million tonnes, exceeding a record 3.834 million in the same period in 2008, analyst UkrAgroConsult said on Thursday (September 3).

The firm said exports of wheat had risen to 1.791 million tonnes so far this season from 1.475 million in 2008, though barley exports fell to 1.566 million from 1.766 million.

UkrAgroConsult analyst Elozaveta Malyshko said new markets and relatively low prices are the main reasons for the record sales.

She said 300,000 tonnes of Ukrainian-origin wheat had been supplied to South Korea, 169,000 to Bangladesh and 102,000 to Spain in August.

Saudi Arabia bought 861,600 tonnes of barley in August.

But Malyshko said the brisk pace of grain exports in the first months of the 2009-10 season was unlikely to result in record exports for the season due to a smaller grain harvest. The 2009 grain crop is likely to fall to 40.7 million tonnes from 49.2 million, according to UkrAgroConsult estimates. The farm ministry forecast the harvest at 45 million tonnes in 2009 against 53.3 million in 2008.

Malyshko said Ukraine will slow the pace of exports later this season.

UkrAgroConsult has forecast 2009-10 grain exports at 17 million tonnes, including 7.55 million of wheat and 5.8 million of barley. In 2008-09 wheat sales totalled 12.6 million tonnes while exports of barley stood at 6.3 million.

The consultancy said 2008-09 grain exports totalled a record 25.295 million tonnes against about 4.0 million in 2007-08 when grain was a subject of export restrictions.