May 3, 2012                                                                       

Ukraine's 2012 soy plantings up 23% to 1.4 million hectares

Ukraine plans to plant soy throughout 1.4 million hectares this year, 23% more than last year due to significant losses of winter crops which may allow collecting a record harvest at 2.5 million tonnes, Taras Hahaliuk, the director of AgriSurvey at the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UABC) said.

"Commercial production of soy in Ukraine has a rather short history, but in recent years an increase in production has made it possible not only to provide domestic demand, but also enter the top 10 exporters of this crop," the analyst noted.

According to the expert, the attractiveness of soy is due to the fact that it is possible to use own seeds, the costs are not high, and thus price risks are quite low with quite a large profit. In addition, soy has perhaps the largest export potential among the oilseeds, given the situation on the world market and annually increasing demand.

"With the current high price of soy taken into account, which is formed amid a decline in harvest by 10-15% in South America, this year's soy could be perhaps the most profitable crop," Hahalyuk concluded.