Four dry cargo ships with more than 120,000 tons of wheat and corn left Ukrainian ports on Friday, the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) reported.
“Four ships left Ukrainian ports today, they are carrying a total of 120,150 tons of grain and other food within the framework of the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” the report said.
Vessel Nestor S will deliver 62,9 thousand tons of corn to China, dry-cargo carrier Mohamad M will carry 23,5 thousand tons of corn to Italy. In addition two vessels Tzarevich (19 thousand tons of wheat) and Gannet S (14 750 tons of corn) set a course to Turkey.
In addition, there are five ships heading for Ukrainian ports, which passed through the humanitarian sea corridor on November 11.
SKC notes that 76 dry cargo vessels are awaiting permission to enter Ukrainian ports, and seven loaded vessels are preparing to be inspected in Turkish territorial waters.
“As of November 11, the total tonnage of grain and other agricultural products exported from three Ukrainian ports is 10,288,535 tons. A total of 892 ships have been allowed to move so far: 450 to arrive at Ukrainian ports and 442 to leave them,” stressed the JCC.
The pace of harvesting in Ukraine due to rainy weather is significantly inferior to last year’s, especially for corn, which by November 4 was harvested on 27% of the area (1.14 million hectares), while last year on this date was thinned 61% of the area (3.3 million hectares).
“Harvesting in Ukraine is slower than last year, and the average moisture content is very high due to the long rains in September and October. Farmers hope that frosts will reduce the moisture content of corn from 22-28% to an acceptable 16-20%, so they plan to postpone harvesting until winter or spring, especially if exports from the Black Sea ports are blocked, which will lead to lower prices,” according to the website of the electronic grain exchange GrainTrade on Monday.
Besides, this season the cost of drying grain has increased two or three times as compared to last year, from 60-100 UAH/ton/percent to 160-250 UAH/ton/percent due to the rise in price of gas and diesel fuel.
The exchange also specified that agrarians of Vinnitsa and Chernovtsy regions have already finished sunflower harvesting, while in Kharkiv region only 42% of sunflower crops are threshed. Most of all 380 thousand tons of soybeans were harvested in Khmelnytsky region and most of all the sugar beets (1.9 million tons) – in Vinnitsa region. The highest yield of grain and leguminous crops – 6.22 tons / ha was obtained by farmers of Khmelnytsky region.
As it was reported, Ukrainian agrarians harvested 53.11 million tons of major crops from the total area of 15.13 million hectares on November 4, with 4.3 million tons from 2 million hectares from October 28 – November 4.
The final yield of wheat in this season amounted to 19.2 million tons from 4.7 million hectares, barley – 5.5 million tons from 1.6 million hectares, rape – 3.1 million tons from 1.96 million hectares, pea – 261 tons from 111.5 million hectares.
In addition, November 4, 9 million tons of sunflower was gathered from 4.1 million hectares, 6.4 million tons of sugar beets from 105 thousand hectares, 6.3 million tons of corn from 1.1 million hectares, 3.1 million tons of soy from 1.3 million hectares, 151 tons of buckwheat from 111 thousand hectares and 98 tons of millet from 42.6 ha.
According to the Ministry, the average yield by all crops in the current season was 40.7 c/ha, including corn – 55.4 c/ha, wheat – 41.2 c/ha, of barley – 35.1 c/ha, rape – 28.9 c/ha, soybeans – 23.9 c/ha, peas – 23.4 c/ha, millet – 23.1 c/ha, sunflower – 22.0 c/ha, buckwheat – 13.6 c/ha, sugar beets – 488 c/ha.
In its September report, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased the forecast for the harvest of Ukrainian corn in 2022/2023 marketing year (MY, July-June) by 1.5 million tons compared to August, up to 31.5 million tons from 30 million tons, and its export estimate has been raised by 0.5 million tons to 13 million tons from 12.5 million tons.
According to a report on the US Department of Agriculture website on Tuesday, the estimate of domestic corn consumption in Ukraine has been increased by 1 million tons – from 10.5 million tons to 11.5 million tons.
In the new forecast, the agency also raised the forecast for wheat production in Ukraine in 2022/2023 MY by 1 million tons – up to 20.5 million tons from 19.5 million tons, while the estimate of its exports remained at the same level – 11 million tons. At the same time, the forecast for its domestic consumption in Ukraine has also been increased by 0.5 million tons – up to 5.5 million tons from 5 million tons.
“Forecast of production (wheat – IF) in Ukraine increased by 1 million tons, to 20.5 million, as the harvest is almost completed, and government statistics indicate higher final yields in the forest and forest-steppe zones,” the Ministry of Agriculture said in a report. USA.
In addition, the forecast for carry-over stocks of wheat at the end of the current marketing year has been increased – from 4.24 million tons to 4.71 million tons compared to 5.84 million tons at its beginning.
According to the report, in general, the forecast for the feed grain harvest in Ukraine for 2022/23 MY was increased by 1.5 million tons – up to 38.96 million tons from 37.46 million tons, and its export – by 0.5 million tons, up to 14 .83 million tons from 14.33 million tons.
As reported, from the beginning of the 2022/2023 marketing year and until September 9, Ukraine exported 5.29 million tons of grain and leguminous crops, which is 1.94 times less than the previous marketing year. The country supplied to foreign markets 3.17 million tons of corn (2.37 times more than in the same period in 2021/2022 MY), 1.65 million tons of wheat (3.6 times less), 447 thousand tons of barley (6 .7 times less) and 15.6 thousand tons of flour (1.7 times less).
Seven more ships carrying corn and wheat left the ports of Ukraine on Tuesday, the Anadolu agency reports, citing the Turkish Defense Ministry.
The export of agricultural products from three Ukrainian ports continues under the agreement on the corridor for grain, concluded on July 22.
Earlier, the UN reported that the Joint Coordinating Center (JCC) allowed seven vessels with corn and wheat to leave the ports of Ukraine on Tuesday as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. According to the UN, the ships Captain Dimitrios (65 thousand tons of corn), Super Saka (29 thousand tons of wheat and 21 thousand tons of corn), Fanaria (18 thousand tons of wheat) will go to Spain. The ships Propus (8.5 thousand tons of corn), Ata Ocean (6.3 thousand tons of sunflower oil) and Greifswald (492 tons of corn) are planning to head to Turkey. In addition, the Yada Team ship will deliver 64,951 tons of corn to Israel.
In Istanbul on July 22, with the participation of the UN, Ukraine, Turkey and Russia, two documents were signed on the creation of a corridor for the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports: Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny.