July 16, 2012

Soy may become major export oilseed in Ukraine's 2012-13 season

During the round table discussion "Harvest of oilseeds in Ukraine in 2012" on Wednesday (July 11), Rodion Rybchinskiy, Head of the business-projects department of APK-Inform Agency, forecasted that soy has the potential to become the major export oilseed crop in Ukraine in 2012-13 marketing year (MY), APK-Inform said.

According to him, in the new season soy export volumes will bypass rapeseed exports for the first time since the independence of Ukraine. If in the current season the exports of the reporting oilseeds from Ukraine will be approximately at the equal level, then in 2012-13 MY the difference in the volume of exports will total nearly 600,000 tonnes (1,650,000 tonnes against 1,050,000 tonnes) in favour of soy. In the medium-term prospect, the exports of soy will grow only, said the expert.

According to the forecast of analysts of APK-Inform Agency, in 2012-13 MY Ukraine will export approximately 3.47 million tonnes of the major oilseeds, up 29% compared to 2011-12 MY.

By the end of next season the volume of domestic consumption of oilseeds in the country will total 10 million tonnes, up 3% compared to the forecasted level of the current season.

Also, analysts of APK-Inform forecast that in 2012-13 MY, Ukraine will reach the record levels of production and exports of sunflower oil - 3.7 million tonnes, and 3.2 million tonnes, respectively.