In its September report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) kept the forecast for the production of Ukrainian wheat in the 2021/22 year (July-June) at 33 million tonnes, and its exports at 23.5 million tonnes, which is in line with the Department’s forecast published in August. In the September report, the USDA also kept the forecast for the corn harvest in 2021/22 at 39 million tonnes, and its exports from Ukraine at 32 million tonnes.
As reported, from the beginning of 2021/22 and as of September 10, 2021, Ukraine exported 10.29 million tonnes of grains and legumes, which is 12% more than on the same date of the previous year. Some 5.92 million tonnes of wheat were exported (4.1% less than on the same date 2020/21), 2.99 million tonnes of barley (a rise of 24.7%), 1.34 million tonnes of corn (2.2 times up); 24,700 tonnes of flour (33.7% less).
Coal mining enterprises of Ukraine in January-August 2021 increased production of run-of-mine coal by 6.2% (by 1.154 million tonnes) compared to the same period in 2020, to 19.681 million tonnes, according to data from the Ministry of Energy.
According to the calculations of Interfax-Ukraine, in particular, coal mining enterprises managed by the ministry increased production by 2.2 times over the eight months of this year (by 2.223 million tonnes), to 4.021 million tonnes, which is largely due to the return of Dobropilliavuhillia assets from DTEK’s lease.
The mines of Donetsk region over the eight months of this year ensured production of 8.129 million tonnes of coal (more by 21.4% compared to January-August 2020), Luhansk – 176,700 tonnes (more by 33.6%), Dnipropetrovsk – 10.506 million tonnes (less by 2.9%), Lviv – 858,100 tonnes (more by 1.1%), and Volyn – 11,000 tonnes (less by 57.6%).
In August 2021, production of run-of-mine coal in the country fell by 27.6% (by 770,200 tonnes) compared to the same month last year, to 2.016 million tonnes.
Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers are negotiating to localize the production of influenza vaccines in Ukraine, the vaccine will be presented on the market in the first quarter of 2022, Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Ihor Kuzin said in an online interview with medical expert of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine Kateryna Bulavinova.
“Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers are negotiating to localize the production of influenza vaccines in Ukraine. It will be a tri- or quadrivalent vaccine in monodose syringes. We hope that such a vaccine will be available on the market during the first quarter of 2022,” he said.
Kuzin noted that it is also planned to purchase about 1 million doses of the vaccine.
“According to forecasts, we will have the same influenza epidemic season as last year. Since June we have been working with vaccine manufacturers and the pharmaceutical sector. Negotiations are underway to transfer a free vaccine to vaccinate health workers within the humanitarian aid framework. The amount of vaccine that will be supplied to the country for the pharmacy network will be slightly more than last year – about 1 million doses,” the deputy minister said.
INFLUENZA, PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS, PRODUCTION, VACCINES
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food has signed an agreement with Lindsay (the United States), a large international company, on the production of irrigation equipment and the creation of an industrial cluster in Ukraine to localize some of the products for irrigation. Minister of Agrarian Policy Roman Leschenko wrote about this on Facebook, commenting on the results of the working trip of President Volodymyr Zelensky and a number of government members to the United States made early September. “An agreement has been signed with Lindsay, the world leader in the field of irrigation equipment. It is ready to launch the production of a full range of irrigation equipment with a significant local content in Ukraine,” the minister wrote.
Leschenko said that each investment project that forms a new industry and provides new jobs will be accompanied by a profile minister in the “investment nanny” mode.
“On these terms, we will cooperate with Lindsay, because this is about creating a new cluster and a new technological base for the rational use of water resources: from pumps, irrigation machines to IT technologies, monitoring systems and artificial intelligence,” he wrote.
In addition, he recalled the $3 billion agreement signed on September 2 between Ukraine and the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM), in which agriculture was named one of the priority areas of financing.
PrJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which manages Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (Dnipropetrovsk region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (Zhytomyr region), significantly increased production indicators in August this year.
According to the company’s information on Monday, Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant last month fulfilled the planned targets for stripping by 111.7%, production by 111.5% and road transportation by 102.9%. At the same time, it is noted that the achieved production indicators are the highest since the beginning of the year.
The situation is similar with the implementation of the plan at Irshansk Mining: in August, the stripping plan was fulfilled by 123.3%, and production – by 100%.
“The increase in production indicators became possible thanks to restoration of the mining equipment fleet, reduction of technological downtime, reduction of equipment emergency stops and successful capital investments during the year,” the press release states.
In addition, it is reported that UMCC launched a large-scale social program in August. In order to reduce the organic matter pollution of surface waters supplied to a pumping and filtering station of a water supply shop of Vilnohirsk Mining for further treatment, in August the company began reconstruction of water intake facilities of the pumping station on the Dnipro River. This will provide the residents of Vilnohirsk and a number of settlements of Dnipropetrovsk region with high-quality drinking water.
The United Mining and Chemical Company began its actual activity in August 2014, when the government of Ukraine decided to transfer the property complexes of Vilnohirsk and Irshansk plants under its management.
UMCC sells its products to more than 30 countries of the world and is one of the world’s largest producers of titanium raw materials, occupying 4% of the world market. The main sales markets are the EU, China, Turkey, as well as the United States and African countries.
Sugar production in Ukraine in the 2021/2022 marketing year (MY, September-August) is expected to reach 1.4 million tonnes, which is 30% more than in the previous MY, the total sugar supply in the country will be sufficient to meet domestic demand, according to the Ministry of Economy.
According to a report on the agency’s website, taking into account the growth in sugar production in the current MY and its significant residues (420,000 tonnes), which are transferred from the last MY, the total sugar supply this season will amount to 1.74 million tonnes. The Ministry of Economy specified that these volumes will be quite enough to meet domestic demand, which is approximately 1.25 million tonnes.
“At present, the sugar industry of Ukraine allows producing up to 2 million tonnes of beet sugar per year, which fully meets the country’s internal needs,” the ministry explains.
The Ministry of Economy recalled that in the 2020/2021 MY sugar production in Ukraine decreased by a quarter compared to 2019/2020 MY, to 1.1 million tonnes due to unfavorable weather conditions.
In the current MY, 33 enterprises of the industry intend to produce sugar, which corresponds to the data for 2020, the report says.
“There is a gradual decrease in sugar consumption by Ukrainians. If in 2008 the average Ukrainian consumed about 41 kg of sugar and sugar-containing products during the year, then in 2020 – 28.5 kg. Such a decrease is also associated with a change in food culture and a decrease in sugar consumption in related industries,” the Ministry of Economy summed up, citing data from the State Statistics Service.
