November 19, 2008
Nibulon halts Ukrainian grain export to EU
The Nibulon company has suspended the supply of Ukrainian grain to the EU member-countries. Some other Ukrainian traders have also reported suspension of grain exports to the European market, Nibulon says.
The company supplied fodder grain and corn to the EU market.
Valeriy Kunytskyi, head of the company's foreign trade department explains that for the grain to remain competitive, its starting price must be cut to the level where sales would be unprofitable.
According to operators, in the past 10 months, the EU accounted for the biggest volumes of Ukrainian grain export - 27.5 percent (Saudi Arabia 15.9 percent, Iran and Egypt 7 percent each). A third of Ukraine's wheat export went to the EU.
On October 27, the European Commission introduced restrictive customs rates on the import of Ukrainian grain crops in the course of 2 years.
Under expert forecasts, Ukraine's export potential this season will be 23 million tonnes of grain, including 12 million tonnes of wheat, 6 million tonnes of barley, and 4.5 million tonnes of corn.
Ukraine collected a record grain crop of above 50 million tonnes this year.
