The Epicenter K Group, developing the agricultural business, plans to invest around EUR 5 million in purchase of 100 grain trucks.
According to the press service of the company, Epicenter will purchase the first 10 grain trucks by the end of February. The approximate cost of one truck is EUR 45,000.
“We are thinking about the alternative to the railway. This season we are exporting grain by grain trucks from the Hnivan and Nemyriv silos (Vinnytsia region). The difference in corn trucking from Nemyriv to the port compared to the railway is $ 2 per tonne, and this is a good bargaining price for corn. In addition, it gives us efficiency in work and ensures the implementation of contracts,” Deputy Head for Agriculture of the Silo Division of the Epicenter K Svitlana Nykytiuk said.
At the same time, according to her, the company plans to complete the construction of railway lines to silos in Vapniarka and Vendychany (Vinnnytsia region).
“At other facilities, there is a railway connection, except for our silo in Kyiv region. The automobile logistics is more interesting there than the railway one,” Nykytiuk said.
The company plans to increase the silo storage capacity to 750,000 or 1 million tonnes. In particular, in 2018, the company began the reconstruction of the Vinnnytsia and Zakupne silos and the construction of two new silo complexes in Vinnnytsia region with a total capacity of 500,000 tonnes. Investments amounted to UAH 800 million, and the launch is scheduled for July 2019.
In addition, Epicenter will increase the capacity of the Hnivan grain collecting station (by 60,000 tonnes), the Nemyriv silo (by 28,000 tonnes) and the Pererobnyk silo in Kyiv region (by 105,000 tonnes). In addition, Epicenter will build a second phase of a silo at Vapniarka.
Ukraine’s Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry has revised upwards its forecast for exports of grain from Ukraine for 2018/19 agricultural year (July-June) from 47.2 million tonnes to 49 million tonnes, the press service of the ministry has reported. “This agricultural year we expect that grain exports from Ukraine would reach 49 million tonnes,” Deputy Minister Olha Kovaleva said.
As reported, Ukraine since the beginning of the 2018/2019 agri-year as of February 20, 2019 had exported 31.31 million tonnes of grain and leguminous plants, which is 21.5% more than on the same date of the previous agri-year. On the specified date, 164,000 tonnes of flour had been also exported.
The gross grain harvest in Ukraine in 2018 amounted to about 70.1 million tonnes compared to 62 million tonnes in 2017.
Mover Mill LLC has launched a plant for processing grain in the village of Kryvi Kolina, Cherkasy region. According to the press service of Cherkasy Regional State Administration, the capacity of the plant is 350 tonтуs of flour per day, it also produces semolina and bran. The products are sold under the Pershy Mlyn brand.
The cost of investments in the plant is about UAH 100 million.
According to Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Viktor Sheremeta, this company is currently one of the largest potential exporters of flour.
According to data from the state register of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, Mover Mill LLC was registered in 2016. Its owner is Volodymyr Movchan. Its statutory capital is UAH 5 million.
POSCO DAEWOO Corporation (South Korea) has announced that it signed an agreement with the Orexim Group from Ukraine on the acquisition of 75% of shares in the grain export terminal being built at the Mykolaiv maritime merchandise port, the company has reported on its website. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It is expected that after the completion of construction in July 2019 the annual grain loading of the terminal will be 2.5 million tonnes, handling mostly corn, wheat and soybeans.
After acquiring the terminal, POSCO DAEWOO announced that it would be able to oversee the entire supply chain of grain produced in Ukraine and manage a more efficient inventory.
“With the latest deal, POSCO DAEWOO said it would be able to gradually oversee logistics through the purchase, inspection, storage and shipment of Ukrainian grain production, as well as reduce risk and ensure effective inventory management in accordance with individual demand,” the Korean company said.
The company plans to cover the infrastructure for the processing of agricultural products and logistics, in order to become the largest food resource production company in South Korea.
POSCO DAEWOO also said that the deal said the deal would also help contribute to Korea’s food security, since grain supplies to the country largely depend on exports, because the country’s self-sufficiency in corn and wheat is only 1%.
In March 2018, the Orexim Group launched the sixth stage of the Every terminal at Mykolaiv power, boosting the total loading to 1.6 million tonnes. Its core business is exports of agricultural products, port and logistic services.
Ukraine in 2018 exported grain for $7.2 billion, hitting the record, the press service of the Institute of Agrarian Economics national research center has reported.
According to the Institute of Agrarian Economics, grain exports in kind fell by 0.4% in 2018 compared with 2018, to 41.7 million tonnes, and the record revenue is linked to growth of grain prices.
The volume of wheat and barley exports in 2018 fell compared with 2017 to 16.4 million tonnes and 3.6 million tonnes respectively.
At the same time, according to the institute, in 2018, corn exports exceeded the figure for 2017 by 10%, amounting to 21.4 million tonnes. Export of rye also increased fourfold, but its volumes still remain insignificant – about 100,000 tonnes.
According to the Institute of Agrarian Economics, the countries of Asia, Europe and Africa remain the largest buyers of Ukrainian grain. Egypt is the leader with a share of 9.2%, but in 2018 it reduced purchases of Ukrainian grain to $666 million (a fall of 20%).
Spain ranked second for the second year in a row (8.9%), which in 2018 increased the volume of grain purchases to $643 million (a rise of 35%). The top buyers of Ukrainian grain are the following: the Netherlands ($556 million), China ($552 million), Indonesia ($487 million), Saudi Arabia ($449 million), Italy ($336 million), Philippines ($316 million), Tunisia ($290 million), Morocco ($263 million), and Libya ($248 million). In total, these 11 countries formed two thirds of the value of all purchases of grain products, the Institute of Agrarian Economics reported.
Ukraine since the beginning of the 2018/2019 marketing year (MY, July-June) and as of January 16, 2019 had exported 25.727 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops, which is 16.2% more than on the same date of the previous MY. According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, farmers exported 11.1 million tonnes of wheat, 3.26 million tonnes of barley, and 10.79 million tonnes of corn.
Some 132,000 tonnes of flour had been also exported on the specified date.
As reported with reference to the ministry, Ukraine exported 39.4 million tonnes of grain in the 2017/2018 MY.
