One of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, Nibulon JV LLC (Mykolaiv), has started the 2024 spring crops sowing campaign, for which it will allocate 38 thou hectares, up 35.7% year-on-year, the grain trader’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, the agricultural division of Nibulon has made adjustments to the structure of the sown areas. Thus, in the 2024 season, the corn and soybean planting areas will be increased, while the sunflower planting areas will be reduced.
“This is due to the price expectations of this year’s grain consignments and the forecast of a better economic result. In total, the company purchased 3,000 sowing units of sunflower, 22,000 of corn, plans to purchase 40 tons of soybeans, and has laid and prepared 500 tons of soybean seeds of its own production for sowing,” Nibulon said.
Due to weather conditions, the sowing campaign has already started in four Nibulon clusters and is underway in Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky and Zhytomyr regions. Given favorable conditions, the company’s farmers expect to finish sowing by mid-May at the rate of 2.0 thousand hectares per day.
Oleg Veselov, Nibulon’s Director of Agricultural Production, noted that there are currently no risks for the 2024 harvest. The company expects the gross harvest of spring crops to be 200 thou tons of corn, 15 thou tons of soybeans, and 25 thou tons of sunflower.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, a one-time storage capacity of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries. In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses due to Russia’s full-scale military invasion in 2022 exceeded $416 million.
Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has created a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines, and was forced to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
