Nibulon, one of Ukraine’s largest grain market operators, has launched a new service – harvesting. The grain trader has already processed more than 5,000 hectares in the Odesa region, according to its press service.
According to the report, Nibulon uses Claas Lexion 7700 combines and its own fleet of trucks to carry out the work, which allows it to control the entire chain from the field to the elevator.
The harvesting service includes the delivery of equipment exactly on time, transparent pricing — a fixed rate per crop, booking without obligations, but with priority during the season.
The agricultural holding is now ready to scale up and sign further contracts with producers throughout Ukraine.
Nibulon LLC was established in 1991. Before the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and complexes for receiving agricultural crops, a capacity for one-time storage of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugboats), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82,000 hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries around the world. In 2021, the grain trader exported a record 5.64 million tons of agricultural products and delivered record volumes 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).
The grain trader is currently operating at 32% of its capacity, has created a special unit for demining agricultural land, and has been forced to move its central office from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
Farms of KSG Agro Holding have started summer harvesting campaign on a total area of more than 7.6 thousand hectares – 6.428 thousand hectares of winter wheat and 1.176 thousand hectares of spring barley, the press service of the company reported.
Head of the crop division of the agroholding Vladimir Kalilei noted that the harvest is taking place in difficult drought conditions, which are characterized by the lack of sufficient moisture and high temperatures at the time of grain pouring.
“The current harvesting campaign is already the fourth since the beginning of the large-scale war. However, thanks to the continued implementation of the development strategy of the vertically integrated holding and the introduction of a quality risk management system, we are working effectively in the crop segment, realizing that the food security of the country depends on our performance,” – said the head of the Board of Directors of KSG Agro Sergey Kasyanov, whose words are quoted in the message.
In the summer harvesting campaign of the agricultural holding, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of July, 18 combines John Deere and Claas Lexion, as well as 60 trucks are involved.
KSG Agro, a vertically integrated holding company, is engaged in pig breeding, as well as in the production, storage, processing and sale of grain and oilseeds. Its land bank in Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson regions amounts to about 21 thousand hectares.
According to KSG Agro, it is among the top five pork producers in Ukraine. In 2023, the agroholding began implementing a strategy of “network-centricity”, under which it will move from the development of a large location to a number of smaller and located in different regions of Ukraine pork enterprises.
TAS Agro Agro Agro Holding has completed the harvesting of oilseeds in the 2024 season from 34.1 thousand hectares, the yield exceeded the targets for 2024 and was higher than the average for Ukraine, the press service of the agricultural holding reported on its Facebook page.
According to the report, at the end of September, TAS Agro completed sunflower harvesting, harvesting more than 43.6 thousand tons from an area of 17.7 thousand hectares, and soybeans from an area of 16.4 thousand hectares weighing 37.2 thousand tons.
“This year, late summer and early fall were abnormally dry, which had a negative impact on the yield of oilseeds throughout Ukraine. Today, there is a shortage of sunflower seeds on the market, which affects price growth and the overall situation on the agricultural market. In general, we carried out our autumn field work in an extremely narrow time corridor, but we did a great job,” said Oleg Zapletnyuk, CEO of TAS Agro.
Currently, the agricultural holding continues to harvest corn and is completing the sowing of winter wheat on an area of 22.7 hectares.
In addition, in 2024, TAS Agro almost doubled its winter rapeseed sowing, from 8 to 15 thousand hectares. Winter rapeseed has already sprouted and autumn chemical protection measures are underway. The agroholding expects favorable weather and good germination of winter wheat.
Taking into account the experience of 2024, the company will continue to implement the updated strategy, providing the clusters with the necessary amount of new agricultural machinery,” TAS Agro summarized.
TAS Group was founded in 1998. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance segments) and pharmacy, as well as industry, real estate, and venture capital projects.
Before the war, TAS Agro Group cultivated 83 thousand hectares in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kherson, and Dnipro regions, where it grows soybeans, sunflower, rapeseed, wheat, barley, and corn. In addition, the agricultural holding is engaged in dairy farming (up to 5.5 thousand heads of cattle) and owns six elevators with a one-time storage capacity of 250 thousand tons.
The founder of TAS is Sergey Tigipko.
The heatwave in Ukraine will not have a major impact on the harvest of early crops, but we can no longer count on high yields of late oilseeds, including corn and soybeans, said Taras Vysotsky, acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, during the Unified National Telethon.
He reminded that there are two types of crops grown in Ukraine – early and late. The harvest of early crops is already underway. We are talking about wheat and barley, as well as oats, peas, rye, and rapeseed.
“These crops are also subject to the heat effect, but it is not critical. They are even favorable for harvesting,” the acting minister said.
According to him, the average yield of early grain crops is 37 centners per hectare. However, it will grow as the harvest continues in the southern and central regions. In particular, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, and Dnipro regions have already harvested more than 1 million tons each. Next, the western and northern regions will start harvesting, where yields will be higher.
As of today, the average yield of early crops is expected to be around 45-48 cwt/ha, Vysotsky emphasized.
“If we look at the later crops, which are primarily corn, sunflower and soybeans, there may be a negative effect of the heat, as it is the peak of flowering, pollination and growth of these crops. It all depends on the weather in the coming weeks. But as of today (it can be stated – IF-U), the current heat will not allow us to collect record figures for corn and sunflower,” said the acting Minister.
Vysotsky said that the production of early grains is expected to reach 27 million tons. The domestic consumption of this group of crops is about 6-8-9 million tons, which is three times higher than the domestic demand. Therefore, there will be no grain shortage in the country, and no sharp price fluctuations are expected.
At the same time, he said, the situation may change in the fall. In August, after the early grain harvest is completed, the situation with other crops will become clear.
“As of today, the price change is expected to be more at the level of inflation or devaluation, because these (crops – IF-U) are export-oriented goods. They are also tied to the hryvnia exchange rate. No sharp price changes are expected based on this levy (of early grain crops – IF-U),” the acting minister stated. He added: “The final forecast for the crop harvest will be made in the second half of August.”
The agricultural holding Continental Farmers Group has started the first wave of harvesting winter crops, which are grown on 89.5 thou hectares, the press service of the agricultural holding reports.
According to the report, in the season-2024, the agroholding’s winter wheat area is 43.2 thou hectares, winter rapeseed – 33.4 thou hectares, winter barley – 12.9 thou hectares.
Continental started the harvest with threshing of winter barley in the Lviv cluster, followed by the harvest in the Galych, Bukovyna and Tsentr clusters. Once barley harvesting is complete, winter rapeseed threshing will begin in the first ten days of July. Winter wheat harvesting is expected to start in mid-July, the agricultural holding said.
According to Konstantin Shityuk, COO of Continental Farmers Group, due to the peculiarities of this spring and the extended vegetation of winter crops, the agricultural holding expected a very early start of the harvest. However, the situation was changed by a prolonged drought in May, and only in early June did farmers across the western region receive sufficient rainfall to normalize the duration of crop development.
“We still started barley harvesting much earlier than average: the June rainfall had little impact on its development. However, winter rape and winter wheat harvesting will start as usual in July. We were preparing for this year’s harvesting campaign with great seriousness given the significant uncertainties associated with the possibility of truck traffic, movement of equipment, changes in mobilization legislation, etc. There were difficulties in the supply of spare parts and disruptions in logistics, but in general, we managed to prepare the equipment, secure resources and get 100% ready for the start in the spring,” explained Shityuk.
The agricultural holding noted that Continental’s elevator facilities are equipped with generators to ensure uninterrupted operation during power outages and are fully prepared to receive early crops. The agricultural holding is also fully provided with the necessary machinery for harvesting: the share of leased units has not increased compared to previous years and is about 15%.
“The only issue that could negatively affect the harvesting campaign is the provision of trucks for harvesting, as most carriers do not belong to the critical infrastructure sector,” Continental summarized.
Mriya Agroholding and CFG, united under the name Continental Farmers Group, have been operating as a single business since November 2018, when Mriya entered into an agreement with international investor Salic UK to sell its assets.
Salic was founded in 2012. Its sole shareholder is the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which invests in agricultural and livestock production.
IMC Agro Holding has completed the harvesting of corn in 2023 and achieved a record yield of 12.4 tons/ha, which is 1.3 tons/ha higher than the previous record set in 2018, said Alex Lissitsa, SEO of the agricultural holding.
“A total of 574 thousand tons were harvested from an area of 46.3 thousand hectares, with an average corn yield of 12.4 tons/ha, a record for all years of the company’s operations, which is 1.3 tons/ha higher than the previous record set in 2018,” he wrote on Facebook.
IMC is an integrated group of companies operating in Sumy, Poltava and Chernihiv regions (north and center of Ukraine). It controls 120.3 thousand hectares (120.0 thousand hectares under cultivation). As of September 30, 2023, the group operated in two segments: crop production and elevators and warehouses.
The agroholding’s net loss in 2022 amounted to $1.1 million against a net profit of $78.7 million a year earlier, with a 37.3% decrease in revenue to $114 million. EBITDA decreased threefold to $36.2 mln.
For the 2024 harvest, IMC sowed winter wheat on 20.3 thou hectares.
In the first nine months of 2023, IMC posted a net loss of $2.25 million, compared to $4.67 million in net profit for the same period in 2022. The agroholding’s revenue increased by 59.8% to $98.78 million, including exports, which increased by 24.4% to $70.23 million. A significant increase in production costs – by 55.6% to $92.4 million – led to a decrease in gross profit by 33.3% to $29.89 million. EBITDA in the first nine months of 2023 amounted to $13.85 million, which is 2.7 times less than in the first nine months of 2022. The report notes that the reason for the decline was the decline in harvest prices in 2023.
CORN, HARVESTING, IMC, RECORD
