Ukraine’s international trade in goods remained stable in January-June 2024 compared to the same period in 2023: $19.5 billion worth of goods were exported, which is the same as last year, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said on his Facebook page.
According to him, the physical export capacity increased by 35% to 71 million tons.
“Over the year, there was a significant correlation in prices for the main export commodities, which explains the phenomenon when the volume of exports in weight is much higher, while the revenue remains stable,” Kachka explained.
The trade representative pointed out that the increase in the capacity of trade routes has an interesting impact on the pace of exports by month.
After record-breaking April and May, exports in June amounted to $2.7 billion and 9.7 million tons, respectively, which is a significant drop compared to May, Kachka said, adding that this is 18.4% less in monetary terms and 20.2% less in volume.
The main reason for this decline in exports, according to the Ukrainian trade representative, is the completion of last year’s harvest. Corn was exported by 23.7% less in June, wheat by 40.8% less, and oil by 37.8%.
At the same time, the top 10 exports remained stable: ore – 239 million (-1.5% compared to May), poultry – 79 million (-3.5% compared to May), flat products – 79 million (+7%), soybeans – 66 million (+45%).
According to Mr. Kachka, imports in June were also down 5.6% to $4.8 billion.
At the same time, in the first half of 2024, Ukraine imported goods worth $31.9 billion, which is 4.9% more than in the first half of last year.
He reminded that a new marketing year for grains and oilseeds began on July 1, and offered to summarize the results of MY 2023-2024.
According to Mr. Kachka, Ukraine exported 69.86 mln tons of grains, oilseeds and oils.
“The export of wheat amounted to 18.43 mln tonnes, which is 9% more than in 2022/23 MY. Corn exports amounted to 29.41 mln tonnes, up 0.2% compared to the previous marketing year. Barley – 2.48 mln tons, down 8.5%. Soybeans – 2.98 million tons, also -8.2% compared to last year. Rapeseed – 3.7 million tons, up 8.7%. Sunflower oil – 6.54 million tons, up 22.8%. Soybean meal – 0.662 million tons, +12.5%, sunflower meal – 5.15 million tons, +29.1%,” he said.
Kachka also drew attention to the “staggering drop in exports, which is good news”.
“Last marketing year, Ukraine exported only 324 thsd tonnes of sunflower. This is 86.3%. That is, we are returning to a situation where sunflower is processed in Ukraine,” summarized the Ukrainian trade representative.
Canada has extended for another year – until June 9, 2025 – the exemption of Ukrainian goods from customs duties, the relevant customs notice is published on the website of the Canadian government.
“We are sincerely grateful to our Canadian partners for supporting the Ukrainian economy by increasing exports and temporarily eliminating customs duties and trade fees on imports from Ukraine. This is an invaluable contribution to our resilience,” First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko commented on the decision in a tweet.
This decision ensures the continuation of duty-free imports of Ukrainian products to Canada, which began on June 9, 2022.
According to the State Statistics Service, exports of goods from Ukraine to Canada in the first quarter of 2024 increased by almost 2.7 times to $47.43 million, while imports decreased by 43.9% to $45.42 million.
Overall, exports of goods from Ukraine in the first quarter of this year decreased by 2.8% to $10 billion 60.85 million, while imports increased by 1.7% to $15 billion 751.91 million.
