December 29, 2008

Ukraine's grain exports in December through its Black Sea ports totalled 1.04 million tonnes, down 28.7 percent from 1.46 million tonnes in the same period in November.

Exported volume includes 574,800 tonnes of wheat, 243,900 tonnes of corn and 198,200 tonnes of barley, according to agriculture consultancy UkrAgroConsult, citing port data.

UkrAgroConsult said December's grain exports are likely to fall to 1.5 million tonnes from about 2 million tonnes in November.

Exports could reach 12.4 million tonnes in the first half of the 2008-09 year against 458,000 tonnes in July-December 2007 when the government introduced export quota limits, said UkrAgroConsult.

Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry said the 2008 grain crop may exceed 51 million tonnes, up from 29.3 million tonnes in 2007, while exports may jump to 22.6 million tonnes from about 4 million tonnes a year ago.