November 8, 2013
Ukraine to halt wheat exports starting November 15
After bad weather hit the harvest, Ukraine's agriculture ministry would ban exports of wheat from November 15, pushing up global wheat futures prices even though traders had expected the move.
The ministry, however, is also still sticking to its earlier formula of allowing traders to export up to a total of five million tonnes of wheat in the current season, the trading sources said.
The November 15 cut-off point was unclear whether it would apply to the signing of export contracts or would mean an immediate halt to physical shipments of wheat. Due to bad weather, wheat harvest was down by a third this year and grain traders, suspecting an imminent curb on exports, have been rushing to speed up shipments abroad.
Farm Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk has said that Ukraine would consider imposing limits if the high level of exports threatened to push up the price of bread at home.
The move drove up US and European wheat futures by more than 1%.