Ukraine: Analysts increase barley, corn, wheat crop forecasts on stronger than expected yields

SovEcon analysts have increased its Ukraine grain production forecasts for corn (up 2 mln tonnes to 25.9 mln), wheat (up 1.3 mln tonnes to 19.2 mln) and barley (up 400,000 tonnes to 4.8 mln) due to stronger-than-expected yields for wheat and barley, along with favorable weather for corn development, AgWeb reported on August 10.

The Black Sea consulting firm raised its 2023-24 Ukrainian corn export forecast by 1 mln tonnes to 19 mln amid the bigger crop estimate. SovEcon also noted: “As the main buyer of Ukrainian grain, the EU could prioritize buying corn over other grains.”

It left the 2023-24 wheat and barley export forecasts at 10 mln tonnes and 1.3 mln tonnes, respectively, “as shipments may be limited by infrastructure bottlenecks and recent attacks on the Danube ports.” SovEcon said it believes Danube ports could ship up to 2 mln to 2.5 mln tonnes of Ukrainian grains per month.

11 August, 2023