Ukraine: Ukraine to ship abroad up to 18 mln tons of cereals in the coming year vs. 12 mln in 2010-11

Ukraine may ship between 15 million and 18 million metric tons of cereals in the year starting July 1, up from around 12 million tons in the year-earlier period, Agriculture Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk was quoted as saying by Bloomberg on June, 2.

The former Soviet state, once the world’s biggest barley exporter, may export up to 8 million tons of grains between July and January, Prysyazhnyuk said. Grain sales this month may total about 900,000 tons and stockpiles are expected to reach 5.8 million tons as of July 1, he said.

Ukraine’s government last month lifted grain export quotas, which were introduced in October because dry weather damaged crops last summer.

The corn quota was lifted May 5 and since then the country shipped 800,000 tons of it, Prysyazhnyuk said. Export quotas on the rest of the grains were removed on May 25.

The weather has been hot and dry in the country and the next 15 days will be crucial for this year’s harvest, Prysyazhnyuk said.

The weather has not damaged crops yet, said First Deputy Agriculture Minister Mykola Bezuhlyi. He said he sees the wheat harvest rising to about 20 million tons, compared with 16.8 million tons last year.

03 June, 2011