Ukraine as of July 22 had fully used quotas for duty-free exports of agricultural products to the EU on nine groups of goods, including honey, sugar, cereals and flour, processed starch, processed tomatoes, grape and apple juice, wheat, corn, and butter. According to a press release from the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UAC), the pace of quota use and revival of trade with the EU is noticeably accelerating, as on the same date last year seven quotas for duty-free exports from Ukraine to the EU were used.
“Potentially, quotas for barley (79% are now used), poultry (75%), malt and wheat gluten (58%), and starch (53%) will be used by the end of the year,” the association noted.
The UAC said additional quotas for eight groups of goods come in force from October 2017 for a period of three years: for honey, flour and cereals, processed tomatoes, grape and apple juice, oats, corn, wheat, and barley. As of July 22, five of the additional quotas were used: for honey, cereals, juice, wheat, and corn.
AGRI PRODUCTS, APPLE JUICE, CEREALS, CORN, DUTY-FREE EXPORTS, EU, GRAPE, HONEY, SUGAR, WHEAT
Foreign trade flow of agricultural products and food in 2018 totaled $24.3 billion, including over $18.84 billion of exported goods, and it grew by 5% compared with 2017, Ukraine’s Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry has reported.
“According to the results of 2018, Ukrainian agricultural exports grew by more than $880 million compared to 2017 and hit a new record of $18.8 billion. During this period, exports of agricultural products to the markets of Asia and the European Union increased significantly. Ukrainian agricultural exports to Asia exceeded $8 billion, and in 2018 we exported more than $6.3 billion worth of agricultural and food products to the EU countries,” Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy for European Integration Olha Trofimtseva said.
According to her, last year, the lion’s share of Ukrainian agricultural exports was traditionally formed by grain crops, with a share of 38.4%, vegetable oils – 23.3% and oilseeds – 10.2%.
“I also want to point out the goods, thanks to which there was an increase in exports. This is corn, wheat, rapeseed, cake, meat and poultry by-products, various oils, tobacco and products from it, eggs, confectionery, and other food,” Trofimtseva said.
The deputy minister said that exports of crop products increased by $762.3 million compared to 2017 and amounted to $17.4 billion. The value of exports of livestock products also increased by $118.1 million and reached $1.4 billion.
Trofimtseva said that the largest buyers of Ukrainian agricultural and food products in 2018 were: India, where agricultural products were exported for more than $1.8 billion, China – $1.2 billion, the Netherlands – $1.2 billion, Spain – $1.04 billion and Egypt – $888.7 million
“During this period, imports of agricultural and food products also increased noticeably and amounted to almost $5.5 billion. Ukraine most actively bought the following food products: fish, crustaceans and mollusks, fruits, nuts, tobacco and products from it, cocoa beans, chocolate, butter , tea, coffee and other food,” the deputy minister said.
