Ukraine continues to hold the third place among the main exporters of agri-food products to the EU after Brazil and the UK, the press service of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) reported, citing an analytical report by the European Commission.
According to the report, Ukraine’s share in imports of agricultural products to the EU in the first six months of 2024 increased by only 2% (EUR 124 million) compared to the same period in 2023.
In total, imports of agri-food products to the EU reached EUR13 billion. Imports from Côte d’Ivoire increased the most in value terms – by EUR951 mln (+46%), followed by Nigeria with EUR473 mln (+132%), due to the rise in cocoa prices.
At the same time, imports from Tunisia more than doubled (+107%), mainly due to the growth of volumes and prices of imported olive oil. Imports from Australia decreased significantly by EUR843 mln (-46%) due to lower volumes of rapeseed, and from Brazil – by EUR634 mln (-7%).
The total exports of agri-food products from the EU in January-June 2024 reportedly reached EUR116.4 billion, which is 1% (+EUR1.1 billion) more than in the same period of 2023.
In the first half of 2024, EU exports to the United States grew the most, increasing by EUR1 billion (+8%) primarily due to higher prices for olives and olive oil. This sector also contributed to an increase in exports to Brazil by EUR209 million (+18%).
The EU’s exports to China decreased by 9% (-EUR689 million) in the period from January to June 2024 compared to 2023.
This is mainly due to a decline in several major products exported from the EU to China, including pork, dairy products, and cereals.
In August this year, the cargo turnover of Ukrainian ports amounted to 7 million tons, which is more than twice as much as in 2023, when it was recorded at 3.3 million tons, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported on its Facebook page.
“The leaders of cargo turnover are grain and ore cargo – 4 million tons (against 2.3 million tons in 2023) and 1.2 million tons (against 195 thousand tons in 2023), respectively,” the agency said.
At the same time, the cargo turnover through the Ukrainian sea corridor in August amounted to 5.9 mln tons, of which 3.6 mln tons were the products of Ukrainian farmers.
In total, in January-August 2024, Ukrainian ports handled almost 67 million tons of cargo, compared to 37.7 million tons in the same period a year earlier. The USPA summarized that 7769 vessels were handled compared to 9732 last year.
Astarta Agro-Industrial Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, supplied 1.26 million tons of agricultural products to foreign markets in the 2023-2024 marketing year, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, the agricultural holding exported 512 thousand tons of corn, 375 thousand tons of wheat, 140 thousand tons of sugar, 125 thousand tons of meal, 43 thousand tons of soybean oil, 45 thousand tons of rapeseed and other agricultural products.
The main consumers of corn were Spain, Egypt, Italy, and Ireland. Spain, Indonesia, Romania, Portugal, and Italy were the main consumers of wheat. Sugar was supplied to the markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Meal and soybean oil were exported to Hungary, Poland, the UAE, Romania, and Saudi Arabia. The main consumers of organic products are Switzerland, the Czech Republic, France, and Germany.
In total, Astarta’s agricultural products were exported to 46 countries, the agricultural holding summarized.
In 2023, Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million.
Astarta CEO Viktor Ivanchik’s family currently owns 40.68% of the company. Fairfax Financial Holdings is also a major shareholder with 29.91%, and another 2.12% of shares belong to the company itself and were previously bought back as part of a buyback.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of October 1, 2023, Credit Agricole Bank ranked 11th in terms of total assets (UAH 100.36 billion) among 63 operating banks in the country, with 141 branches. The bank is fully owned by French Credit Agricole SA.
In the 2024-2025 marketing year (MY, September 2024-August 2025), Ukraine will be able to export more than 60% of its agricultural products despite the constant shelling of critical infrastructure and problems with electricity, said Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotskyi during a national telethon.
“We remain an export-oriented country in terms of agriculture. Most of the products we grow will be exported. Most likely, it will be more than 60%,” he said.
Vysotsky called safe and affordable logistics the main component of agricultural exports during a full-scale war.
“The military has done a lot here. But again, we see that the enemy does not stop, constantly shelling, in particular, the southern regions. We will actively work to ensure this logistics and the necessary systematic access of critical infrastructure to energy,” he emphasized.
The Acting Minister also reminded that many export operations, such as unloading, sorting, and distribution, require electricity.
“There are relevant government decisions that guarantee that the infrastructure critical to the agricultural sector can have access to uninterrupted electricity supply. Basic facilities have been included in the list. Everything is being done to ensure that these two challenges do not stop our production and exports,” summarized the head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
The head of the Odessa regional military administration Oleg Kiper in August 2023 by his order strengthened customs control in the region when exporting agricultural products for export, at the same time on the market of export of agricultural products appeared about 40 companies with signs of fictitiousness, reported hromadske in the investigation “Grain Baron”.
The publication noted that through the ports of Odessa in 2023 passed 85 percent of the country’s agro-exports.
When analyzing the data of the Ukrainian customs, access to which is provided by the international service ImportGenius, journalists found 40 companies with signs of fictitiousness, which entered the agro export market after the Odessa OSA established “manual control” over it.
These companies started exporting grain after August 2023. They have never engaged in exports before, were founded or changed owners in 2023, are not part of well-known agroholdings and do not own land.
“The largest by export volume of these firms has the same phone number as another 139 legal entities. And in second place is a company whose founder is probably a psychologist from Uzbekistan, for whom 20 legal entities have been registered in Ukraine over the past two years,” the investigation said.
“Suspicious” companies for the last quarter of 2023 exported through the ports of the Odessa region about 800 thousand tons of agricultural products worth about $ 150 million, or 6 billion UAH, says the publication and recalls that the head of the Odessa Regional State Administration explained the establishment of manual control by the need to fight against one-day companies and so-called “black exports”.
Such one-day companies export grain and do not return foreign currency proceeds to the country, do not pay taxes, have a fake director and do not have an office. After several transactions with a budget of several million dollars, the company disappears.
The chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Union “Agrarnaya Rada” Dmytro Kohan drew attention to the fact that any manual control has increased risks of corruption.
The Odessa regional military administration refused to comment on the facts revealed by journalists.
All checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border were unblocked on Sunday night, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky said.
“We express our gratitude to the Polish Ministry for their constructive work on unblocking the border, as well as to the industry associations of both countries. The ongoing negotiations were not easy, but the main thing is that we have a result,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy quoted him as saying at the online talks on Monday.
According to the report, negotiations between the ministries and associations will continue. The parties agreed to exchange monthly figures on the transit of agricultural products to monitor the situation.
The next meeting of the agriculture ministers of Ukraine and Poland is scheduled for May 7. They will discuss the terms of cooperation between the agricultural sectors of the two countries in the summer.
