American farmers plan to significantly increase sunflower crops this year due to supply disruptions amid Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg writes.
At the same time, a jump in agricultural prices to record levels for many years could increase motivation among farmers to plant more, said John Sandbakken, executive director of the National Sunflower Association. The USDA tentatively forecasts a 10% increase in sunflower acreage this year.
“I’m sure the increase will be more, almost 20%,” Sandbakken said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg.
Sunflower is used in a very wide range of products, from potato chips and sunflower oil for frying to bird food and shampoos. However, this year this commodity may be in short supply, as Ukrainian farmers are forced to reduce acreage and exports due to hostilities in the country. Ukraine is considered one of the world’s largest sunflower exporters.
Meanwhile, last year’s devastating drought in the northern Great Plains of the United States plays into the hands of American farmers this year, as it left excess nitrogen in the ground, which reduces fertilizer costs, Bloomberg notes.
The price of new crop sunflower in the US is about $34 per 100 pounds (about 45 kg), higher than the previous record price of $30.5 reached in 2008. Old crop sunflower prices are also nearing their highest since 2011, Sandbakken notes.
Velta US Inc (the United States), the parent company of Production and Commercial Company Velta LLC with assets for the extraction of titanium-containing ores in Novomyrhorod, Kirovohrad region, intends to increase supplies of ilmenite concentrate to the United States by 15-23% in 2022.
According to the company’s press release, Velta in January held a meeting of the advisory board formed in October 2021 to discuss further expanding the company’s presence in the U.S. market, taking into account the review of signed contracts for 2022.
“This year, the company will increase its supplies of ilmenite concentrate to the U.S. by 15-23%. This process is also facilitated by the shortage of high-titanium raw materials in the North American market, which Velta is able to fully satisfy. I believe that this is only the beginning, and the company has great growth prospects, especially in the U.S. market,” Matthew Murray, a member of the advisory board of Velta U.S. Inc., the former deputy assistant secretary of commerce for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said.
During the meeting, Andriy Brodsky, the CEO of Velta, voiced his support for the recently passed Section 6505 of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act by the U.S. authorities, which calls for the U.S. Department of State to prepare a report on U.S.-Ukrainian cooperation in the context of reducing America’s dependence from titanium supplies from China and Russia, including due to an increase in supplies from Ukraine.
“Velta is ready to get involved in the process of developing mechanisms for cooperation between the United States and Ukraine regarding the supply and processing of titanium, as well as provide any necessary information and data for the formation of the Department of State report on the creation of new supply chains in the United States,” Brodsky said.
At the same time, it is noted that positive trends in Velta’s cooperation with American partners can become catalysts for the expansion of the existing mining complex and the launch of the Lekarevsky asset.
As reported, Velta US Inc created an advisory board on October 13, 2021 and is conducting a separation of mining and innovation business areas. At that time, it was announced that Matthew Murray, as the first member of the advisory board, would oversee the development of the company’s strategic vision and partnership in the U.S. market.
The Chinese manufacturer of wind turbines Xinjiang Goldwind Technology Co., Ltd has signed contracts for the supply of wind turbines for two projects in Ukraine with a total capacity of 625.5 MW – Zophia wind farm with a capacity of 337.5 MW and Ochakiv (Yuzhnoukrainsk wind farm) with a capacity of 288 MW, according to the company’s website. “Two projects include 75 wind turbines on the GW155 platform with a capacity of 4.5 MW and 60 turbines with a capacity of 4.8 MW,” the company said.
The annual production of electricity from the two wind farms is estimated at 2.2 TWh enough to power 1.1 million households and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 1.7 million tonnes per year.
According to the calculations of the Chinese company, which entered the Ukrainian market in 2019, after the completion of the transaction, Goldwind’s market share in Ukraine is expected to exceed 20%. The projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022.
The company said that the projects will further consolidate Goldwind’s leading position in the global market.
According to the Windpower Monthly website, Goldwind will also service the Zophia turbines for 25 years, and the Yuzhnoukrainsk WPP for two years.
This summer, the Norwegian company Emergy (formerly NBT) announced its intention to install 75 Goldwind GW155 wind turbines with a capacity of 4.5 MW in the first two phases of the Zophia wind farm in Zaporizhia region. The wind farm is located about 25 km south-west of Melitopol, Zaporizhia region, near the Sea of Azov, and covers an area of about 39 km from north to south.
The Ochakiv wind farm belongs to Yuzhnoukrainsk wind farm LLC, registered in 2007 in Ochakiv district of Mykolaiv region. According to open data, the Chinese company Longyuan Power Overseas Investment Co. Ltd. (51%) and Hong Kong-based Hiro Asia Investment Limited (49%), which changed owners from the United States and the U.K., have been its owners since the end of June this year. The charter capital of the LLC is UAH 44,000. The company is headed by Yevhen Husev.
The Yuzhnoukrainsk wind farm, the capacity of which according to the project is indicated as 300 MW, will be located on the territory of Parutyne and Ostrovske village councils outside the settlements. The feasibility study of the wind farm was developed by IKNET.
Ukraine is surprised and disappointed with Hungary’s decision to sign a new long-term contract with Russia’s Gazprom in Budapest on September 27, 2021, regarding gas supply to Hungary bypassing Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“We view this as nothing but a political, economically unfounded decision, which has been made to the benefit of the Kremlin and to the detriment of national interests of Ukraine and Ukrainian-Hungarian relations, in violation of the principles of the Treaty of Neighborliness and Cooperation between Ukraine and the Hungarian Republic dated December 6, 1991,” the statement said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has initiated a delay of the next meeting of the Joint Ukrainian-Hungarian Intergovernmental Economic Cooperation co-chaired by the two foreign ministers, which was planned for September 29-30.
“Earlier today, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry initiated a delay of the Commission meeting, considering that the Hungarian-Russian gas agreement will have a substantial influence on the energy security of Ukraine and Europe, and will create new circumstances that require a comprehensive analysis of risks and threats and coordinated efforts of countries of the region in order to minimize its negative implications,” the statement said.
The Ukrainian side will also apply to the European Commission to provide an assessment of the conformity of the new Hungarian-Russian gas agreement with European energy legislation.
China is interested in increasing the supply of Ukrainian soybeans, peas, barley, wheat, as well as poultry and other products, the Ministry of Economy said, following a meeting between First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy Oleksiy Liubchenko and Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong on June 10. “Today we’ve heard from our Chinese partners confirmation of interest in deepening economic cooperation, increasing exports of Ukrainian agricultural products, building infrastructure and implementing joint investment projects in transport, construction, energy, IT and other areas,” the press service of the ministry said citing Oleksiy Liubchenko.
According to the report, the meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister Volodymyr Hryniuk and Deputy Minister-Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka, as well as representatives of the leadership of the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine.
The parties also noted the importance of signing an intergovernmental agreement on deepening cooperation in the construction of infrastructure in the near future, the ministry said.
“This step will allow starting preparatory work for the launch of investment projects, including the construction of the M-22 Poltava-Oleksandriya road and the first part of the Kyiv circular road – sections M05-M06, which will cost about $ 1.1 billion,” the ministry said.
It is also important to continue work on the development of freight traffic in the direction of China-Western Europe through the territory of Ukraine, the report notes.
In addition, the Chinese side stressed the importance of the implementation of the intergovernmental initiative of Ukraine and China “One Belt-One Road.” The matter concerns preparing a roadmap for the implementation of a program of cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the joint construction of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road,” the ministry added.
Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran signed agreements with Turkish companies on the transfer of technology and production of corvettes and unmanned attack aircraft systems for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on its website on Monday, the signing took place within the visit of the Turkish delegation to Ukraine, headed by President of Defence Industries of Turkey Ismail Demir.
According to Taran, first of all, this is about projects designed to radically enhance the combat capabilities of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to improve security in the area of the Black and Azov Seas.
The minister said these are the first in history foreign economic transactions for military goods concluded by the Defense Ministry of Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said that in October, Taran and Demir signed a memorandum with the intention to start and implement joint projects for the construction of warships, unmanned aerial vehicles and all types of turbine engines.
