Ukrainian mining enterprises in January-November this year reduced export of iron ore raw materials (iron ore) in quantity terms by 2.8% compared to the same period last year, to 40.667 million tonnes.
According to the updated statistics released by the State Customs Service, during the specified period, foreign exchange earnings from iron ore exports increased by 78.7%, to $6.63 billion.
Iron ore was exported mainly to China (42.6% of supplies in monetary terms), the Czech Republic (9.61%) and Poland (7.82%).
In January-November 2021, iron ore was imported to Ukraine for $183,000 in a total volume of 1,202 tonnes, while in January-November 2020, some 104 tonnes of iron ore were imported for $58,000.
In January-November 2021, iron ore was imported mainly from Egypt (56.28%), the Netherlands (21.31%) and Poland (7.1%).
Ukrainian enterprises in January-November of this year increased the export of ferrous scrap, according to operational data, by 24.8 times compared to the same period last year, to $211.92 million from $8.55 million.
According to preliminary summarized statistics released by the State Customs Service on Thursday, in money values, the export of scrap metal in November 2021 amounted to $16.17 million, while in November 2020 it was $352,340.
At the same time, in January-November of this year, the country increased the import of scrap metal in money values by 88%, to $40.91 million; in November, scrap was imported for $3.47 million.
Ukraine exported 1,640 tonnes of seeds to the countries of the European Union in January-October 2021, which is twice the figures for the entire 2020 (820 tonnes) and 5 times more than in 2019 (320 tonnes), according a Thursday posting on the website of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
“Opening the European market for us is a 10-year way. Negotiations on the recognition of domestic seeds as compliant with EU requirements began in 2011 and lasted a very long time. Now, we have every opportunity to benefit from the many years of work of negotiators – dozens of people from business and government,” the authority quoted its head Vladyslava Mahaletska speaking at the online conference Seed Forum 2021.
According to the authority, in January-October 2021, 1,210 tonnes of corn seeds, 330 tonnes of wheat seeds, and 50 tonnes of sunflower seeds and all other crops in total were exported to the EU.
To open the export of seeds from Ukraine and to comply with the phytosanitary requirements of the EU, in 2021 17 areas in Ukraine on a total of 673 hectares were assigned the status of pest-free, to be able to grow seed on them.
Ukraine in the 2021/2022 marketing year (July-June) intends to export more than 60 million tonnes of grain crops, while ensuring the throughput capacity of seaports will become an important challenge in the issue of its logistics, the Ministry of Economy said on its website, citing deputy Minister of Economy, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka on Friday.“Even ten years ago, the issue of the throughput capacity of Ukrainian seaports caused lively discussions, but over the past five years their capacity has increased – from 49.3 million tonnes in 2016 to 81.5 million tonnes in 2021. The sea transportation sector operates without delays, while we are observing the volatility of prices for rail transportation,” the Deputy Minister said at the Global Grain Conference 2021 in Switzerland.According to him, the strategy of the Ukrainian government is aimed at developing infrastructure in the logistics industry in order to attract investors to it.Kachka specified that Ukraine is implementing a number of measures within the framework of the Agreement with the World Trade Organization on trade facilitation, such as the introduction of a Single Window mechanism for international trade, the institution of an authorized economic operator, and a joint transit regime. This will allow Ukraine to enter the list of countries with the safest and most comfortable conditions for doing business.The Trade Representative of Ukraine recalled that growth of global demand for freight transportation amid the weakening of quarantine restrictions raised rates on them to multi-year highs and increased industry revenues, which allows investing in the latest technologies, digitalization, automation, etc.As reported, the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) in November estimated export of grains, legumes and oilseeds from Ukraine in 2021/2022 MY at 68 million tonnes with a harvest of 105 million tonnes, which exceeds the forecast made by the organization in July respectively, by 6 million tonnes (9.7%) and 5 million (5%) tonnes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the November report increased the forecast for the export of Ukrainian wheat in 2021/22 (July-June) by 0.5 million tonnes compared to the previous month – from 23.5 million tonnes to 24 million tonnes, while maintaining the estimate of its harvest at the level of data for October – 33 million tonnes.The projected world export of wheat will be a record 203.2 million tonnes (3.5 million tonnes more than the USDA data in October), mainly due to the growth of its exports from the EU, India, Russia and Ukraine.In the November report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture also kept the forecast for the corn harvest in 2021/22 at 38 million tonnes for Ukraine, its exports at 31.5 million tonnes.
