In 2023, Agrotrade exported about 350 thsd tonnes of grain, of which 35%, or 116 thsd tonnes, was the share of its own products, and 65%, or 230 thsd tonnes, was from third-party producers, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, the agricultural holding supplied 214 thousand tons of grain to the world market by “deep water”, 108 thousand tons by the Danube, and 24 thousand tons by land.
“Despite the fact that logistics was a constant problem last year due to instability and high prices, we managed to establish ways to trade from different points – when the Black Sea ports became inaccessible, we started exporting via the Danube. And the opening of the new “grain corridor” greatly simplified our work. We were among the first in the country to use it. So far, it is working perfectly – everything is predictable and there are no queues. (…) In total, we have already shipped four ships, or 66 thousand tons of products, through the Grain Corridor 2.0,” the press service quoted Andriy But, Director of Agrotrade’s Foreign Economic Activity Department, as saying.
According to him, a significant achievement of the past year was the full sale of the agricultural holding’s own 2022 harvest and the increase in trade volumes. In particular, the company managed to export record volumes of winter rapeseed – more than 30 thsd tonnes – via the Danube in a short time. Also, in 2023, Agrotrade’s corn, soybeans and wheat were in demand on the global market.
Speaking about the plans for 2024, Booth said that the agricultural holding expects to fully export its own 2023 harvest and not slow down the pace of trade.
Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. Its main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a simultaneous storage capacity of 570 thousand tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn and sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand Agroseeds on the market.
Vsevolod Kozhemiako is the founder and CEO of Agrotrade.
In 2023, Ukrainian companies increased imports of copper and copper products by 2.2 times in value compared to 2022, to $140.795 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, exports of copper and copper products decreased by 20.1% to $72.078 million during this period.
In December, the company imported copper worth $20.856 million and exported $6.906 million.
In addition, in 2023, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and products by 74.2% compared to 2022, to $15.391 million ($1.025 million in December), and increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 7.7%, to $366.463 million ($31.951 million).
At the same time, it reduced imports of lead and lead products by 65.2% to $989 thousand ($70 thousand), imports of tin and tin products by 23% to $2.728 million ($310 thousand), but increased imports of zinc and zinc products by 18.8% to $45.966 million ($3.665 million).
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products last year increased by 0.7% compared to 2022 to $97.616 million ($8.433 million in December), lead and lead products increased by 23.5% to $14.778 million ($704 thousand), nickel and nickel products amounted to $532 thousand ($24 thousand), while in 2022 it was $1.268 million.
Zinc was exported abroad in 2023 for $130 thousand ($13 thousand in December) against $1.331 million in 2022. Exports of tin and tin products amounted to $159 thousand (up $79 thousand in December) against $424 thousand in 2022.
As reported, in 2022, Ukrainian enterprises reduced imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 64.3% compared to the previous year to $65.370 million, while their exports decreased by 56.3% to $90.245 million.
In addition, in 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 49.9% compared to 2021, to $59.754 million, and aluminum and aluminum products by 33.4%, to $340.398 million. At the same time, it reduced imports of lead and lead products by 66.6%, to $2.839 million.
Imports of tin and tin products fell by 33.5% to $3.312 million, and imports of zinc and zinc products decreased by 58.7% to $38.690 million.
In 2022, exports of aluminum and aluminum products decreased by 42.7% compared to 2021, to $96.972 million, lead and lead products – by 68.7%, to $11.970 million, and nickel and nickel products – by 73.9%, to $1.268 million.
Zinc exports in 2022 amounted to $1.331 million, while in 2021 they amounted to $550 thousand. Exports of tin and products in 2022 amounted to $424 thousand, compared to $346 thousand in the previous year.
In 2023, Ukraine decreased exports of processed pig iron in physical terms by 5.8% compared to 2022, to 1 million 248.512 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), pig iron exports in monetary terms amounted to $471.467 million in the period under review (down 26.2%).
At the same time, exports were carried out mainly to Poland (51.91% of supplies in monetary terms), Spain (21.41%) and the United States (13.15%).
In 2023, Ukraine imported 154 tons of pig iron worth $156 thousand from Germany (42.31%), Brazil (41.67%) and Poland (16.03%), compared to 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand in 2022.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine decreased exports of processed pig iron in physical terms by 59% compared to the previous year to 1 million 325.275 thousand tons, and in monetary terms by 61.1% to $638.774 million.
In 2022, Ukraine imported 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand, while in 2021 it imported 185 tons of pig iron worth $226 thousand.
Exports were made mainly to the United States (38.47% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (32.91%), and Turkey (8.12%), while imports were made from Germany (100%).
In 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC transported 30.58 million tons of grain cargo, up 5.9%, or 1.708 million tons, from a year earlier, said Valery Tkachev, deputy director of the commercial work department of UZ, at a meeting with agricultural market participants on Thursday.
According to him, 22.729 mln tons of grain crops were transported for export by rail, which is 178 thsd tonnes more than in 2022. Of these, 14.324 mln tonnes (-4.9%) were shipped to the ports, and 8 mln 405 thsd tonnes (+12.2%) – to the western border crossings.
“Before the embargo on imports of Ukrainian grain by neighboring countries was imposed in April, 900 thsd tonnes to 1 mln tonnes of grain were transported by rail per month. After the ban was imposed, the volume was almost halved. The work of ports in 2023 was significantly affected by the uncertainty of the “grain corridor”, Tkachev stated.
As reported, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 63 million tons of cargo for export in 2023.
Ukraine’s exports of goods in 2023 fell by 18.5% year-on-year, from $44.2 billion to $36 billion, while imports increased by 14.4%, from $55.5 billion to $63.5 billion, the State Customs Service reported on Friday.
As a result, according to its data, Ukraine’s foreign trade turnover in 2023 decreased by only 0.3% to $99.4 billion.
It is specified that taxable imports amounted to $52.6 billion, or 83% of the total volume of imported goods. It is noted that the tax burden per 1 kg of taxable imports in 2023 increased by 38% to $0.49/kg.
According to the published data, China imported the most goods to Ukraine – $10.4 billion, Poland – $6.6 billion and Germany – $4.9 billion, while the most were exported to Poland – $4.7 billion, Romania – $3.7 billion, and China – $2.4 billion.
Machinery, equipment and transport accounted for 65% of the total volume of goods imported in 2023 – $19.8 billion (UAH 141.7 billion, or 31% of customs revenues, was paid to the budget during customs clearance of such goods), chemical products – $11 billion (UAH 74.8 billion, or 16% of customs payments) and fuel and energy products – $10.3 billion (UAH 103.4 billion, or 23% of customs payments).
The top 3 exports from Ukraine in 2023 were food products – $21.8 billion, metals and metal products – $3.9 billion, and machinery, equipment and transport – $2.9 billion.
The State Customs Service clarified that UAH 559.2 million was paid to the budget during customs clearance of exports of goods subject to export duties.
In the first half of 2023-2024 marketing year (MY, July-December), Ukraine set the record for rapeseed oil exports – 356 thsd tonnes, up six times compared to the same period last year, APK-Inform news agency reported.
“The significant increase in the rate and volume of exports of this product in the current season was primarily due to the high demand for rapeseed oil on the world market amid attractive prices. Difficulties with sunflower procurement during the off-season also encouraged Ukrainian mills to increase rapeseed processing,” the analysts explained.
According to their information, the main volumes of Ukrainian rapeseed oil shipments during six months of 2023-2024 MY were to the EU countries, where 54% of Ukrainian rapeseed oil was supplied, and China – 31%.
