December 29, 2011

Ukraine exports lesser grain on-year

Between December 1 and 26, Ukraine has exported 1.65 million tonnes of grain against 1.81 million tonnes in the same period in November, analyst UkrAgroConsult said on Wednesday (Dec 28).

The consultancy said in a report the volume included 1.22 million tonnes of corn, 380,000 tonnes of wheat and 50,000 tonnes of other cereals.

Wheat was shipped to Spain, Thailand and Israel while Ukrainian corn went mostly to Egypt, Spain, Iran and Israel.

Ukraine's Farm Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk said last week grain exports were unlikely to exceed 1.9 million tonnes in December.

He also said Ukraine could export up to nine million tonnes by year-end. The former Soviet republic exported 6.9 million tonnes of grain in the first half of 2010/11 and 14 million in July-December 2009.

Ukraine harvested a record 56.4 million tonnes of grain in clean weight in 2011 against 39.2 million in 2010. The harvest includes 22.4 million tonnes of wheat, 22.3 million of corn and 9.1 million of barley.