September 14, 2010

Ukraine's grain export capacity to hit 15 million tonnes in 2010

Ukraine has an overestimated ending grain stocks of two or three million tonnes, making experts to conclude the country's 2010 export potential at 15 million tonnes, said Ukrainian Grain Association President Volodymyr Klymenko.

Klymemko said that this year Ukraine would harvest 40-40.5 million tonnes of grain, with 26-27 million tonnes required for the country's domestic consumption.

As per the USDA's report, Ukraine could export six million tonnes of wheat, four million tonnes of barley and five million tonnes of corn. "We have not yet harvested corn, but it is forecast are that we'll harvest about 11 million tonnes, and five million tonnes could be exported," he said.

As for wheat, the Ukrainian Grain Association expected that its quality would be worse. But Klymemko said, hot weather "significantly improved the quality of wheat," destroying pests. "So we have around 70% of milling wheat, and the rest is fodder wheat," he added.

The president of the Ukrainian Grain Association also noted that Ukraine and Russia geographically supplied major volumes of grain to the same regions. "The fact that Russia has left the markets means that, in fact, through a rise in world prices, we can sell our products more profitably. But this does not mean that we'll get Russian contracts. They will be acquired by the United States and Argentina. We still cannot close the gap left after the introduction of a ban on exports from Russia, because Russia planned to sell 18 million tonnes of wheat," Klymenko said.