In 2024-2025 marketing year (MY, July-June), Ukraine remained the main supplier of rapeseed to the European Union, supplying 3.4 mln tonnes of the seed, up 5% compared to the same period of the previous year, APK-Inform reported citing the German Grain and Oilseed Farmers’ Association (UFOP).
“With the volume of 2.2 mln tons and the import share of 63%, Ukraine remains the most important country of origin, as in previous years. This is slightly higher than the last year’s volume of 2.1 mln tons,” the analysts said.
At the same time, the second wave of oilseed imports from Australia is expected in the second half of the season, which has already supplied 875 thsd tonnes of rapeseed to the EU market by mid-January. According to the research of Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH), this is about 19% more than in the same period last season.
“With the share of almost 26%, Australia is the second most important supplier of rapeseed to the EU, followed by Canada – 144 thsd tonnes,” the report says.
It is added that the volume of shipments from Canada increased more than three times compared to the previous year, although it remains at a rather low level. This is due to the fact that Canada mainly grows GM rapeseed varieties, while the EU has restrictions on the use of oil produced from them. Therefore, Canadian imports are mainly intended for biofuel production, APK-Inform added.
Zaporozhkoks, one of Ukraine’s largest coke producers and a member of Metinvest Group, increased its blast furnace coke production by 4.3% year-on-year to 74.36 thousand tons from 71.32 thousand tons in January this year.
According to the company, it produced 74.2 thousand tons of coke in December.
As reported, Zaporozhkoks increased its blast furnace coke production by 2.1% in 2024 compared to 2023, up to 874.7 thousand tons from 856.8 thousand tons.
“In 2023, Zaporozhkoks increased its blast furnace coke output by 16% compared to 2022, up to 856.8 thousand tons from 737.4 thousand tons.
“Zaporozhkoks produces about 10% of coke in Ukraine and has a full technological cycle of coke products processing. It also produces coke oven gas and pitch coke.
“Metinvest is a vertically integrated mining group of companies. Its major shareholders are SCM Group (71.24%) and Smart Holding (23.76%), which jointly manage the company.
Metinvest Holding LLC is the management company of Metinvest Group.
Exports of poultry meat brought Ukraine almost $1 billion in 2024, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy reported, citing information from the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
According to the report, in 2024, the Ukrainian poultry industry demonstrated an increase in exports, which increased by 5.7%, and revenues, which increased by more than 20%.
At the same time, exports of poultry meat and edible offal reached 448.8 thousand tons, which is 5.7% more than in the previous year. Total exports amounted to $962.7 million, which is 20.4% higher than in 2023.
The main importers of Ukrainian products were the Netherlands, which purchased 23.2% of total exports. Saudi Arabia ranked second with a share of 16.1%, and Slovakia was third with 8.5%.
In 2024, Ukraine also exported 77.8 thousand tons of eggs, which is 59.4% more than a year earlier. In monetary terms, exports increased by 22.5% compared to 2023 to $74.5 million. The main buyers of Ukrainian eggs were Israel (14.1%), Poland (11.7%) and Italy (11.1%).
The growth in exports demonstrates the high competitiveness of Ukrainian products in the international market and the efficiency of domestic producers. Expanding the geography of supplies and increasing demand for Ukrainian poultry and eggs once again emphasize its quality and compliance with international standards, the MPs noted.
The Verkhovna Rada emphasized that these indicators are a positive signal for the further development of the poultry industry in Ukraine, in particular for attracting new investments and expanding export potential.
The share of households’ exchange transactions with the US dollar ($) decreased to 74.1% last year from 78.7% in 2023, while for the euro (EUR), Polish zloty (PLN) and British pound (£) – increased, according to an analysis by analysts at currency exchange market operator KYT Group, based on data from 100 branches in 30 of Ukraine’s largest population centers.
“Despite everything the US dollar remains the dominant currency of operations, but its share has decreased, which may indicate the strengthening of the role of the euro and other currencies in the foreign exchange market,” – commented the received data analysts of ‘KYT Group’ in the currency review.
But the share of transactions with the euro has grown from 20.8% in 2023 to 25.15% in 2024. According to analysts, such dynamics may be a consequence of the large emigration of economically active Ukrainians to the eurozone countries, more lively foreign trade with the EU countries, changes in payment preferences of business, or diversification of savings of the population.
According to the above data, the number of transactions with the Polish zloty increased more than one and a half times last year: up to 0.56% from 0.36% in 2023, which KYT experts attribute to the activity of labor migrants, deepening business ties between the countries and, accordingly, the growth of financial flows between Ukraine and Poland.
The share of exchange transactions with the British pound in 2024 has almost doubled: up to 0.15% from 0.08% in 2023. Analysts believe that such a “jump” of the indicator, despite maintaining a low overall share in the section of cash transactions, may indicate the expansion of economic ties between Ukraine and the UK, an increase in cross-border transactions and strong confidence in British financial instruments.
“The decreasing share of the dollar in foreign exchange transactions does not mean its loss of its status as a key reserve currency in Ukraine. High liquidity of the dollar, stability and its global status continue to make it the main instrument for capital preservation”, – note analysts of ‘KYT’, they assume that the current changes may be a consequence of attempts of business and population to diversify currency assets.
“It is especially relevant against the background of changes in the monetary policy of the United States and the European Central Bank. If the ECB continues its easing policy, the hryvnia’s exchange rate against the euro may be more stable than against the dollar,” they point out.
In this context, the experts also reminded about the announced by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) possible change of the peg of the official exchange rate of the hryvnia to the euro, instead of the dollar, as part of the aspiration to join the eurozone in the future.
“The financial behavior and currency preferences of Ukrainians are changing in line with external economic conditions. If the trend continues, the euro may continue to build its share of the cash market, while the zloty will remain an important currency for private and business transactions,” the analysts summarized.
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In January 2025, Ukraine exported 5 million tons of agricultural products, which is 9.7% less than the same indicator of the previous month, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB).
“For the third month, there has been a downward trend, but this is typical for the winter period in the absence of force majeure,” analysts explained.
Speaking about the structure of exports in January 2025, they noted that the exports of grains decreased by 3% to 3.5 mln tonnes (corn – 72%, wheat – 26%, barley – 2%) compared to December 2024, oilseeds – by 39% to 352 thsd tonnes. tons (soybeans – 63%, rapeseed – 29% and sunflower seeds – 6%), cake after extraction of vegetable oils – by 22% to 406.3 thsd tonnes (sunflower – 67%, soybean – 33%), other agricultural products – by 24% to 329.5 thsd tonnes.
At the same time, the export of vegetable oils increased by 1% compared to December 2024, to 424.4 thsd tonnes (sunflower oil – 89% and soybean oil – 10%).
The analysts noted that the export volumes of grains and vegetable oils remained approximately at the level of the previous month. Oilseeds (-39%) and oilcakes after extraction of vegetable oils (-22%) showed the decline.
“In the current marketing year, the vast majority of agricultural products intended for export have already been exported, in particular, wheat – 64%, corn – 55%. Accordingly, in the coming months, a further slight reduction in export shipments is possible,” UCAB predicts.
In 2024, the Export Credit Agency (ECA) supported 69 exporters by insuring their foreign trade agreements, loans for the execution of such agreements, and investment loans for UAH 1 billion, according to the agency’s website.
Thus, the supported exports amounted to UAH 7.53 billion, and one hryvnia of ECA’s liability brought UAH 7.52 of future export revenue.
ECA’s clients operate in 19 regions of Ukraine, among which the leaders in terms of exports were: Kyiv (UAH 3.8 billion of export revenue), Lviv region (UAH 1.25 billion) and Vinnytsia region (UAH 703 million).
Nine banks are helping exporters, together with the ECA, to safely expand their business geography. Ukrgasbank financed UGB the most – UAH 374.67 million (UAH 2.9 billion of supported exports), Oschadbank – UAH 208 million (UAH 629 million), and FUIB – UAH 131 million of loans (UAH 1.78 billion of supported exports).
The ECA also reports that during the year it introduced new products to protect investors from military risks and concluded the first such agreements, supporting UAH 137.6 million of investments.
The ECA also insured a bank guarantee for the performance of work by a Ukrainian contractor in Poland for the first time.
In 2024, ECA became a full member of the Berne Union, an international organization that brings together export credit agencies and promotes international trade.
“This opens up new opportunities for cooperation with international partners and raising our export risk insurance standards and improving insurance products,” the agency explained.
In cooperation with the World Bank, ECA developed a draft five-year strategy for the company and adopted it, which was one of Ukraine’s commitments to the IMF. The task was completed five months ahead of schedule.
In addition, ECA was the first state-owned company to approve its strategy by a decision of the Supervisory Board in accordance with updated corporate governance standards.
The report also notes that in 2025, the main tasks of the ESA will be, in particular, to expand the possibilities of insuring foreign trade contracts, increase the volume of support for foreign economic contracts, and the amount of investment finance insurance. Another priority will be the launch of a loan insurance compensation program aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses. The actual reduction in the cost of insurance will contribute to an increase in the number of exporters who want to receive additional protection for their business, explains ECA. And by addressing the lack of capital, ECA will be able to support more businesses and implement larger projects.
