As of November 18, Ukraine exported 16.431 mln tonnes of grains and pulses since the beginning of 2024/25 marketing year (MY, July-2023-June-2024), of which 2.032 mln tonnes were shipped this month, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported citing the State Customs Service.
According to a report on the Ministry’s website, as of the same date last year, the total figure for shipments abroad was 12.033 million tons, including 2.793 million tons in November.
In terms of crops, since the beginning of the current season, Ukraine has exported 8.351 million tons of wheat (610 thousand tons in November), 1.74 million tons of barley (41 thousand tons), 10.8 thousand tons of rye (0.2 thousand tons), and 6.048 million tons of corn (1.367 million tons).
The total export of Ukrainian flour since the beginning of the season as of November 18 is estimated at 28.9 thsd tonnes (3.3 thsd tonnes in November), including 26.2 thsd tonnes of wheat (2.8 thsd tonnes).
As of November 8, farmers in all regions of Ukraine have harvested 71.4 million tons of new crops from 19.2 million hectares, compared to 68.9 million tons and 18.9 million hectares a week earlier. As reported by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Friday, 52.1 million tons (49.9 million tons) of grains and 19.3 million tons (19 million tons) of oilseeds have already been harvested. The Ministry specified that the harvest of wheat has been completed, with 22.3 million tons harvested from 4.9 million hectares at a yield of 42.4 c/ha, barley – 5.6 million tons from 1.4 million hectares at a yield of 39.2 c/ha, peas – 470.4 million tons from 212.2 thousand hectares at a yield of 21.9 c/ha, and rapeseed – 3.5 million tons from 1.3 million hectares at a yield of 27.3 c/ha. Corn harvesting continues, with 22.4 million tons harvested (20.2 million tons a week earlier) from 3.5 million hectares (88% of the plan), buckwheat – 127.2 thousand tons (126.9 thousand tons) from 87.8 thousand hectares (99%), millet – 161 thousand tons (160.3 thousand tons) from 88.1 thousand hectares (95%). Agrarians in 16 regions are harvesting sugar beets, which have been dug up on an area of 238.1 thousand hectares (92%), with 11.4 million tons of sweet roots. Grain harvesting is led by farmers in Odesa region, who have threshed 4.6 million hectares, Chernihiv region – 4.2 million tons, and Poltava region – 4.1 million tons. In terms of yields, farmers in Khmelnytsky region are ahead with 76.9 c/ha, Chernihiv region – 69.1 c/ha, and Ternopil region – 66.8 c/ha.
Revenues from exports of grains, oilseeds, meal and oil in the first quarter of the 2024/2025 season (July-October this year) amounted to $6.1 billion, up $1.6 billion, or 35.6%, compared to the previous season, the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) reported on Facebook.
“Over 4 months, Ukraine has received significantly more export revenue from the sale of wheat, barley, rapeseed and soybeans compared to last season,” the industry association stated.
According to the chart below, in July-October 2024, sales of wheat on foreign markets brought Ukraine $1.456 billion, which is 1.9 times more than a year earlier, while revenue from rapeseed exports increased by 50.6% to $1.119 billion, corn by 32% to $849 million, soybeans by 2.1 times to $477 million, and barley by 3 times to $286 million.
At the same time, the revenues from sunflower oil exports in July-October 2024 decreased by 0.7% to $1.356 bln, and sunflower meal by 9.2% to $344 mln compared to the same period last year.
As of November 8, farmers in all regions of Ukraine have harvested more than 68.9 million tons of new crops from 18.9 million hectares, compared to 66.7 million tons and 18.6 million hectares a week earlier.
As reported by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Friday, 49.9 million tons (47.2 million tons) of grains and 19 million tons (18.8 million tons) of oilseeds have already been harvested.
The ministry said that wheat harvesting has been completed, with 22.3 million tons harvested from 4.9 million hectares at a yield of 42.4 c/ha, barley – 5.6 million tons from 1.4 million hectares at a yield of 39.2 c/ha, peas – 470.4 million tons from 212.2 thousand hectares at a yield of 21.9 c/ha, and rapeseed – 3.5 million tons from 1.3 million hectares at a yield of 27.3 c/ha.
Corn harvesting continues with 20.2 mln tons (18.3 mln tons a week earlier) from 3.3 mln hectares (83% of the plan), buckwheat – 127.2 thou tons (126.9 thou tons) from 87.8 thou hectares (99%), millet – 160.3 thou tons (160.2 thou tons) from 86.5 thou hectares (93%).
Agrarians in 16 regions are harvesting sugar beets, which have been dug on an area of 223.2 thousand hectares (87%), with 10.7 million tons of sweet roots.
The harvest of oilseeds is nearing completion in Ukraine. In particular, 5.8 mln tons of soybeans have been harvested (5.73 mln tons a week earlier) from 2.5 mln hectares (96%), and 9.7 mln tons of sunflower (9.599 mln tons) from 4.7 mln hectares (95%).
At the same time, the leaders in grain harvesting are farmers in Odesa region, who threshed 4.4 mln ha, Poltava region – 4.1 mln tons, and Chernihiv region – 4 mln tons.
In 2024, one of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, Nibulon JV LLC, harvested 260 thsd tonnes of grain, up 100 thsd tonnes (62.5%) from a year earlier, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
“This season, Nibulon has positive dynamics of gross grain harvest compared to previous years. This is due to the implemented organizational changes, changes in the structure of sown areas, production technologies and a complete rethinking of the company’s agricultural sector,” explained Oleg Veselov, Director of Agricultural Production at the agricultural holding.
According to him, 14 production branches have been reorganized into four clusters, and the company has switched from traditional (plow) to lean technologies (Strip-Till, Mini-till). The structure of sown areas was completely reorganized: winter crops were moved to the southern cluster, where they have no alternative, and high-yielding corn and soybeans were moved to the central and western clusters.
“This made it possible to increase yields, use available resources more efficiently, and reduce the number of technological operations, which in turn led to a decrease in fuel consumption and a reduction in harmful emissions,” Veselov emphasized.
Nibulon noted that the agricultural machinery purchased in the 2024 season operated with 30% higher productivity and was controlled by monitoring systems. The agricultural holding was also able to integrate yield data into the Cropwise monitoring system online and respond quickly to changes, which helped to increase crop productivity.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, a one-time storage capacity of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries. In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses due to Russia’s full-scale military invasion in 2022 exceeded $416 million.
Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has created a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines, and was forced to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
The German federal government has confirmed the increase in imports of Ukrainian grain in recent years and at the same time denied the negative impact on its market, the Bavarian trade publication Wochenblatt reported.
“Grain imports have been growing since 2022, when the Russian war against Ukraine began. Imports of feed and food grains from Ukraine to Germany reached its peak in recent years – about 741 thousand tons. In the first six months of 2024, the volumes approached 490 thousand tons,” the publication writes.
The largest share in imports is corn. In January-June 2024, Germany imported about 447 thsd tonnes of corn, while in 2023 it was 619 thsd tonnes. At the same time, in 2023, wheat imports reached almost 106 thousand tons, but from the beginning of 2024 to July 2024, only about 16.5 thousand tons were registered. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, wheat imports ranged from 6,000 to 2,000 tons.
The federal government also emphasized that it has no information about any deviations from the requirements and standards during inspections of Ukrainian grain by the official German Food and Feed Inspectorate. According to the Federal Government, food and feed imported into the EU from third countries, such as Ukraine, must comply with the requirements of the food and feed legislation in force in the EU.
This information is contained in the federal government’s response to questions from the parliamentary group Alternative for Germany.
