The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in December raised its forecast for the export of sunflower oil from Ukraine in the 2019/2020 marketing year (MY, September-August) by 200,000 tonnes compared to the November forecast, to 6.2 million tonnes, sunflower meal by 100,000 tonnes, to 4.85 million tonnes. According to a December report posted on the agency’s website, the forecast for sunflower exports from Ukraine this month is increased by 50,000 tonnes, to 150,000 tonnes.
In addition, in December the U.S. Department of Agriculture improved its forecast for a sunflower crop by 1 million tonnes, to 15.5 million tonnes, production of sunflower meal by 380,000 tonnes, to 6.28 million tonnes, sunflower oil by 390,000 tonnes, to 6.54 million tonnes.
In general, the forecast for export of oilseeds from Ukraine in December is increased by 20,000 tonnes compared to the forecast in November, to 4.85 million tonnes, oilseed processing by 900,000 tonnes, to 17.22 million tonnes, meal exports by 100,000 tonnes, to 5.8 million tonnes, export of vegetable oil by 200,000 tonnes, to 6.68 million tonnes.
As reported, with reference to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, in 2018 Ukraine harvested 13.7 million tonnes of sunflower, 4.4 million tonnes of soybeans, and 2.6 million tonnes of rapeseeds.
Structure of Ukraine‘s gross external debt on 06/30/2019 (imf methodology)
Within the framework of the 27th meeting of the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Belarusian Mixed Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, a meeting of co-chairs of the national parts of the Commission and a plenary meeting took place. “The visit of the Belarusian delegation of such level is a real opportunity to continue the dialogue with a view to practical implementation of the urgent tasks of cooperation in all areas of mutual interest for the peoples of our states,” the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers quoted Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine Oleksiy Orzhel as saying on Saturday.
It is noted that the constructive discussions held at expert consultations within the Commission will deepen cooperation between Ukraine and Belarus.
“Cooperation with the Republic of Belarus will ensure the development and functioning of stable and competitive sectors of the economy of our states. Implementation of the agreements will provide an opportunity to strengthen political, trade, economic and cultural ties between our countries,” Orzhel added.
Cargo transshipment in the seaports of Ukraine for the first time in 11 years has reached 150 million tonnes, Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Krykliy has said.
“This volume was before the crisis in 2008 … These are not only the achievements of manufacturers, carriers, stevedores and port workers – this is a new challenge for the entire industry. Transport infrastructure must be ready to cope with new loads, and we already see bottlenecks in logistics and are working to eliminate them,” he said on Facebook.
According to him, three quarters (75%) of this amount is exported by Ukrainian enterprises, import amounts to 16%, transit to 7%. At the same time, the lion’s share of transshipment is products of the agro-industrial complex (41%) and mining industry (23%, ore).
According to the press service of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, in January-November 2019 Ukraine’s seaports handled 144.3 million tonnes of cargo, which is 18.8% more than in the same period in 2018. The volume of grain transshipment for the 11 months amounted to 48.8 million tonnes, and ore to 33.6 million tonnes.
In addition, the growth trend in container handling remains: in January-November 2019 nearly 911,000 TEU were already loaded, while for the whole of 2018 some 846,000 TEU were handled.
The ports handled more than 108.6 million tonnes for export, while 23.7 million tonnes were transferred for import, transit traffic amounted to 10.2 million tonnes.
Electricity production by all power plants of state enterprise Energoatom in January-November 2019 decreased by 2.2% (by 1.656 billion kWh) compared to the same period of the previous year, to 74.889 billion kWh.
According to the press service of the company, the plan for the production of electricity for the specified period in 2019 was overfulfilled by 1.4%.
The share of Energoatom in the overall structure of electricity production in the country amounted to 53.6%, which is 0.2 percentage points more than in January-November 2018.
The power plants of the state enterprise for the reporting period supplied 70.34 billion kWh, which is 2.3% less than a year earlier.
The volume of capital investments for the 11 months amounted to UAH 12.094 billion against UAH 10.069 billion. in January-November 2019, financing of capital investments totaled UAH 12.957 billion against UAH 10.798 billion.
During the reporting period, the company transferred UAH 12.328 billion to the budgets of all levels, insurance payments amounted to UAH 2.343 billion.
Some 12 violations were recorded in the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants for the 11 months of 2019 against 20 violations for the 11 months of 2018.
Ascania-Pack, part of the multi-profile Ukrainian holding Ascania, in January-November 2019 reduced production and export of honey by 20% compared to the same period last year, to 5,200 tonnes due to export of packaged honey and the uncertainty of prices, development director of Ascania-Pack Viktor Ivanchenko has said.
“For 11 months of 2018, the company exported and actually produced 6,500 tonnes of honey, for the same period in 2019 some 5,200 tonnes. The reduction in volumes was due to uncertain prices and export prospects in the second half of the year. We did not know whether the price will grow or fall, but we didn’t want to play roulette. In addition, we focused on export of packaged honey. From the point of view of added value, this is much more interesting,” he said.
Ivanchenko noted that over the 11 months of this year, Ascania-Pack exported three times more packaged honey compared to the entire last year and plans to increase these volumes both in the domestic and foreign markets.
“We have determined for ourselves the volume of bulk exports, which is sufficient for us. Now we focus on the sale of packaged honey in the domestic market and on export. Today we export more packaged honey than we sell in the domestic market. This year we we’ll export about 130 tonnes of packaged honey. But we would like the share of packaged honey to be at least 25%, and then 50% of the total production,” he said.
Ascania-Pack supplies packaged honey to 14 countries in Europe, Asia, the United States, and Canada and is constantly working on expanding its export geography. In addition, the company received Halal certificate in 2018 and plans to receive Kosher next year.
