Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the export of agricultural products of the Myronovsky Hliboproduct (MHP) globally has not changed; the geography has slightly shifted from Europe towards Asia, the owner of the MHP, Yuriy Kosiuk, has said. “Globally, nothing has changed. Europe has slightly fallen due to lower consumption, although all of our enterprises are located there. The Arab markets, Africa have grown. Japan is a little closed, but in the near future, I think, everything will reopen. In general, the picture is unchanged. The only thing is that the geography has shifted slightly from Europe to Asia,” he said in an interview with the Novoye Vremia publication.
According to Kosiuk, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula have already made a request to support and secure them in the supply of meat.
“This issue became especially acute after the opening of markets. Many companies in these countries closed due to COVID-19 cases at production facilities. A similar situation in the United States: closures of production facilities due to outbreaks of COVID-19, shortage in the domestic market, half-empty shelves in stores. In Ukraine, thank God, this did not happen,” the owner of the company said.
At the same time, Kosiuk does not believe that, amid the coronavirus crisis, Ukrainian producers got the opportunity to gain more in the export of food products.
Main trade partners of Ukraine in % from total volume (export from Ukraine to other countries) in Jan-Feb 2020
SSC of Ukraine
Ukraine reduced the export of poultry and offal by 0.5% in January-April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, to 137,850 tonnes, the State Customs Service said.
According to the service’s data, in monetary terms the export of such products decreased by 10.4%, to $178.62 million.
The import of poultry and offal decreased by 33.4%, to 25,870 tonnes, in monetary terms by 33.4% as well, to $10.96 million for the four months of 2020.
According to the State Customs Service, pork export grew 1.9 times, to 941 tonnes. The products were delivered for $2.62 million, which is 2.5 times more than in January-April 2019.
The import of pork to Ukraine decreased by 61.5%, to 3,500 tonnes, in money terms by 56.5%, to $7.22 million for the first four months of 2020.
Ukraine reduced egg exports by 29.4%, to 37,170 tonnes, in money terms by 29.5%, to $33.44 million in the reporting period. The import of eggs decreased by 56.5%, to 892 tonnes, in monetary terms by 61.5%, to $3.09 million in January-April 2020.
Ukraine increased coke and semi-coke exports by 2.8 times compared to the same period in 2019б to 10,627 tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, the export of coke and semi-coke in monetary terms increased by 12.2%, to $1.020 million during that period.
The majority of deliveries were made to Slovakia (70.59% of supplies in monetary terms) and Poland (29.41%).
Ukraine imported 92,886 tonnes of coke and semi-coke in January-April 2020, which is 76.2% less compared to the same period in 2019. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 82.3%, to $21.302 million. The import was mainly from the Russian Federation (76.40% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (9.5%) and Hungary (7.19%).
The decision of the European Commission to increase import duties for maize from EUR 5.27 to EUR 10.40 per tonne is not a threat to export of Ukrainian maize, Prse of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) Mykola Horbachev has said.
“Changing the duties for maize is exclusively the market mechanism for protecting the domestic market, and not an administrative one. So, when the price for maize on the exchange grows, the duty is leveled, and when it falls, the duty increases. This practice works automatically and is not something new for the market, after all, at least it have existed for the past 20 years, or even more,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
The president of the UGA said that in Ukraine the potential for the export of maize has actually been exhausted in the current agricultural year.
“Today, about 26 million tonnes out of the expected 29-30 million tonnes have been exported. Thus, Ukraine has already managed to supply most of maize to the EU,” Horbachev said.
This decision will also not have an impact on maize exports in the next season, as crop prices may increase with a new crop. The association said that share of the total Ukrainian maize exports to the EU is about 45%. To date, Ukraine has already supplied about 10.5 million tonnes of maize to the EU.
The European Commission from April 27, 2020 fixed the import duties in the cereals sector. The import duties for maize, sorghum and rye are now fixed at EUR 5.27 per tonne and the automatic calculation lead to a new figure of EUR 10.40 per tonne on May 6.
The production seed complex of the international agricultural company Corteva Agriscience, which is located in the village of Stasi (Poltava region), has carried out the first export of seeds directly to Agrodairy, one of the largest agricultural companies in Azerbaijan.
According to a company press release, exporting finished products directly to a foreign producer is the first experience and, in the future, a new direction for the seed complex in Ukraine, which since its founding in 2013 has been focused on meeting the local needs of Ukrainian producers and the internal needs of the company.
“Until that time, seeds were exported internally to Corteva Agriscience European production sites, mainly to Romania and Italy, for further processing, packaging and sales by local teams,” the company explained.
Corteva plans to expand exports from Ukraine to other countries. In the future, the company also plans to export seeds to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and after introducing Ukraine in the list of countries from which it is allowed to import seeds to the European Union, to supply seeds to Europe.
Corteva Agriscience is a global agricultural company that offers farmers comprehensive solutions to maximize yields. The company has more than 150 research facilities and more than 65 active substances in the portfolio.
Corteva Agriscience in 2019 completed the separation from DowDuPont. Corteva Agriscience has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since June 2019 under the symbol CTVA.
