October 17, 2012

 

Ukraine not imposing limits on barley and corn exports

 

 

Ukraine will not be issuing limits on barley and corn exports in the present marketing season.

 

The country's Agriculture Minister, Mykola Prysyazhnyuk, adds that the former Soviet republic would export over two million tonnes of grain in October.

 

"Moreover, we will encourage the exports of feed grains," Prysyazhnyuk said on the sidelines of an international grain conference in Kiev.

 

The ministry gave no official export data for September, while some observers say the volume could total about 2.5 million tonnes with wheat dominating the shipments.

 

"Regarding wheat exports... everything will depend on how we will complete winter grain sowing," he added.

 

Prysyazhnyuk said Ukraine had almost completed winter grain sowing for the 2013 harvest and only farms in the south needed more time due to the lack of moisture.

 

Weather forecasters said this week's heavy rains which covered almost all Ukrainian regions earlier this month would help all crops to sprout and strengthen.

 

Farms had sown 7.2 million hectares for the 2013 winter grain harvest as of October. 15, or 88% of the originally forecast area, official data showed. Most crops have sprouted and are in a good state.

 

In September, the Agriculture Ministry and traders agreed that exports from the former Soviet republic would not exceed 19.4 million tonnes this season, including 4.0 million tonnes of wheat, three million tonnes of barley and 12.4 million tonnes of corn.

 

Last week, Prysyazhnyuk said the ministry had raised the export limit for wheat for 2012/2013 season, adding one million tonnes to a previous four million tonnes cap.

 

"We... understand that we cannot export any more than five million tonnes of wheat this season," he said.

 

Traders and analysts, however, said that the country's exportable wheat surplus could reach 5.5 to six million tonnes this season. Ukraine exported 5.4 million tonnes of wheat in 2011/2012.

 

The ministry said last week Ukraine had exported 6.639 million tonnes of grain, mostly wheat, so far the 2012/2013 season.

 

The volume included 2.528 million tonnes of milling wheat, 662,000 tonnes of feed wheat, 1.748 million tonnes of corn and 1.341 million tonnes of barley.

 

The ministry said traders had contracted about 4.4 million tonnes of grain, including about 2.1 million tonnes of wheat, for future exports.

 

Ukraine plans to harvest 45-46 million tonnes of grain this year and exports are seen totalling 20-21 million tonnes in 2012/2013.

 

The country, which consumes 26 million tonnes of grain per season, harvested 56.7 million tonnes in 2011 and sold abroad 22.8 million tonnes in 2011/2012.

 

Analysts have forecast the harvest at 42.4 million tonnes this year and expect exports of about 20 million.