June 13, 2008

Ukraine agri group sees grain yield at 40 million tonnes

The Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation (UAC) estimates grain yield in 2008 to total 40 million tonnes, lower than prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's projections of 59 million tonnes on Wednesday (June 11, 2008).

Leonid Kozachenko, president of Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation (UAC), said that Ukraine expects good yield of rapeseed at the level of 2.6 million tonnes.

Harvesting has already started in some regions, in particular, in Crimea.

Meanwhile, some grain market participants face problems such as carry-over stocks of around 7 million tonnes, while storing facilities for grain in Ukraine are only 30 million tonnes.

Analysts said that it may be technically impossible for the country to accommodate around 50 million tonnes of grain, which may lead to losses for agrarian sector.