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
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has put up more than 1 million cubic meters of timber for additional auctions, which will be held on the principle of Dutch auctions, the company’s CEO Yuriy Bolokhovets said on Facebook. According to him, this record-breaking amount of wood was accumulated at the expense of unsold products in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“Uncertainty with the borders plus the holiday season in the EU reduced the demand for wood. Many processors have taken a break…. Demand is gradually recovering, but the situation remains difficult in some market segments,” stated the company’s CEO.
Bolokhovets said that due to the blockade of the borders, the losses of the branches of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” exceeded UAH 1 billion over three months.
“If not for the timely reform, dozens of forestry enterprises would have been on the verge of bankruptcy in January. It is only thanks to subsidies from the central level that employees of all (!) our branches receive their salaries on time. All branches have working capital to carry out their activities, no one has stopped,” he emphasized.
Speaking about the plans of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” for 2024, Bolokhovets noted that amid unfavorable assessments of the timber market prospects for both processors and sellers of raw materials, the company intends to support the market. There are no plans to reduce harvesting. On the contrary, more than 1 million cubic meters of wood from the closure of state processing will be added to the last year’s trading volume.
“Forests of Ukraine will also continue to work to reduce costs, increase efficiency and eliminate corruption.
“This means mandatory assessment and justification of investments, the most open and competitive procurement, efficient use of equipment and other resources. Sale of unprofitable assets, optimization of the administrative staff. Reducing the cost of the resource through the construction of new forest roads. Finally, eradication of such phenomena as substitution of timber grades and other manifestations of corruption,” stated the CEO of the state enterprise.
As reported, Ukraine launched a forestry reform in 2016. As part of it, the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions has already been introduced. Since 2021, an interactive map of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
The industry has implemented the Forest in a Smartphone project, which contains a list of logging tickets for timber harvesting and allows you to check the legality of logging on the agency’s online map.
On June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber. In addition, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has launched a pilot project to procure timber harvesting services through the electronic platform Prozorro.
The farms of KSG Agro have completed the sunflower harvesting campaign on an area of 7,360 hectares with a yield of 24 c/ha, the press service of the agricultural holding reported.
“The results of the harvesting campaign are positive for us, thanks to weather conditions with sufficient rainfall. We predicted a final yield of 23-25 cwt/ha, but in fact we got 24 cwt/ha. This year’s harvesting campaign was delayed because we partially used seeds with a late maturity. We should also mention the results of Apostolivske branch, which for the first time since it joined the holding achieved high sunflower yields of 24.5 c/ha,” said Dmytro Emelchenko, Head of the company’s crop production division, as quoted in the press release.
According to him, in parallel with the sunflower harvesting campaign, the holding’s farms sowed winter wheat on an area of 2 thou hectares and rapeseed on an area of 1.5 thou hectares.
“The peculiarity of this year’s winter crops was that due to weather conditions we sowed almost dry. Nevertheless, the seedlings received at the end of October are in satisfactory good condition,” said Mr. Yemelchenko.
KSG Agro, a vertically integrated holding company, is engaged in pig production, as well as the production, storage, processing and sale of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21 thousand hectares in Dnipropetrovska and Kherson regions.
According to the agricultural holding, it is one of the top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.
Last year, due to the full-scale war launched by Russia, KSG Agro ended with a net loss of $1.68 million compared to $17.71 million in net profit in 2021, its EBITDA decreased 5.5 times to $1.79 million, and revenue decreased by 47.3% to $16.2 million.
In the first quarter of 2023, the agricultural holding earned $1.53 million in net profit, which is 17% less than in the same period last year. Its EBITDA increased by 23% to $1.87 million and revenue by 45% to $5.12 million.
Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, has started harvesting sugar beet, for which it has allocated 39 thousand hectares in the 2023 season, the group’s website reports.
According to the report, on September 8, farmers in Vinnytsia region started digging, and agricultural producers in Poltava region will join the harvesting campaign on September 14.
According to preliminary estimates of the agricultural holding’s experts, this year’s yield and quality of sugar beet will be higher and better than last year’s figures.
In preparing for this year’s harvesting campaign and taking into account the experience of previous seasons, Astarta’s team paid special attention to logistics.
“The company has invested in the construction of almost 90 km of field roads. Also, on Astarta’s initiative and in close cooperation with the Poltava Regional Military Administration and the Globyno community, the company is completing the repair of a 25 km section of the Manzhelia-Globyno public road,” the statement said.
To optimize the delivery of raw materials from the field to the warehouses, the agricultural holding has purchased 22 self-propelled loaders.
In addition, Astarta continues to actively implement digital AgriChain products, including the new AgriChainLogistics module to optimize the processes of collection, delivery, storage and processing of raw materials.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
As reported, Astarta earned EUR65.16 million in net profit in 2022, down 46.8% compared to 2021. Last year, the holding’s EBITDA decreased by 23.2% to EUR154.77 million, while revenue increased by 3.8% to EUR510.07 million.
In the first quarter of 2023, the agricultural holding earned EUR16.13 million in net profit, up 6.2 times compared to the first quarter of 2022, its revenue increased by 37.1% to EUR163.55 million, and EBITDA by 63.5% to EUR37.91 million.
The major shareholders of Astarta at the end of the first half of the year were the family of its founder and CEO Viktor Ivanchyk – 40.11% and Fairfax Financial Holdings LTD with subsidiaries – 29.91%.
KSG Agro Holding has completed the harvesting campaign of winter crops – barley, rape and wheat on a total area of about 6.34 thousand hectares, including barley from 1.1 thousand hectares, rape from 2.138 thousand hectares, wheat from 3.1 thousand hectares, according to the group’s press release on Wednesday.
It is specified that barley yield amounted to 3 tons/ha, rapeseed – 2.5 tons/ha, which corresponds to last year’s indicators. The yield of winter wheat is twice as high as last year and showed 5 tons per hectare.
Efficient work of the holding farms’ collectives and weather conditions with sufficient rainfall allowed to obtain a good harvest result. Despite the pessimistic moods about winter crops in autumn and winter, associated with the rise in prices of fertilizers and NWR, we reached the break-even point and even remained in the pluses”, – the press service of the agricultural holding quoted the head of the plant division Dmitry Emelchenko.
In the harvesting campaign 13 combines were used – 2 of them John Deere, and the others – Claas Lexion. In addition, 4 hopper-loaders and about 50 trucks were used to transport the harvest.
KSG Agro, a vertically integrated holding company, is involved in pig farming as well as the production, storage, processing and marketing of cereals and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21 thousand hectares in Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson regions.
According to the agroholding, it is among the top 5 pork producers in Ukraine.
Last year KSG Agro, due to the full-scale war started by Russia, ended 2022 with a net loss of $1.68 mln compared to $17.71 mln net profit in 2021, its EBITDA decreased 5.5 times to $1.79 mln, and its revenue decreased by 47.3% to $16.2 mln.
Agriholdnig earned $1.53 million in net income in January-March 2023, down 17% from the same period last year. Its EBITDA rose 23% to $1.87 million, with revenue up 45% year-on-year to $5.12 million, gross profit up 46% to $2.06 million and operating profit up 37% to $1.54 million.
Harvesting of current crops in the Prometey Group started with winter barley. Areas with this crop are located mainly in Bashtanka district of Nikolaev region.
Harvesting has already been carried out on an area of 216 hectares, with an average barley yield of 78.5 centners per hectare.
“This year’s harvest has pleasantly surprised us – says agronomist-technologist Ilya Troitsky, – and although Bashtanka district is famous for barley, it is traditionally grown here, this season’s figures exceeded expectations”.
One day Prometey agrarian enterprises will start harvesting winter wheat.
