Ukraine: Barley shipments through Ukrainian ports in March were down to 180KMT against 320KMT in February. The bulk of these deliveries (90KMT) was intended for Saudi Arabia, UkrAgroConsult has recently reported. Also, large parcels were shipped to Tunisia, Syria, and Greece.

This year, the leading role among spring grain crops will be played by barley, according to UkrAgroConsult’s analysts. Increased interest in barley grain from both domestic and foreign markets, rather high prices, sufficient amount of seeds, ample soil moisture content in spring are the grounds for expanding seeded areas under this crop. However, seeding spring barley in late March/early April in the South will result in exposing its sprouts to high air temperatures, initial development of plants with overdried soil, their poor rooting, and generation of a small crop.

In the Steppe zone, because of the late spring and this year's absence of the "February windows" there is a risk of planting this crop in late terms that will inevitably lead to a grain crop shortage and possible failure of seeding the entire intended acreage, which we forecast at a level of 3750Th ha. In the Northern and Western regions, where spring drought phenomena rarely occur, this crop's yields are far less dependent on its seeding terms.

06 April, 2005