Participants in the grain market and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine have set the maximum export volumes for wheat in the current 2021/2022 marketing year (MY) at 25.3 million tonnes, compared to 17.5 million tonnes in the previous marketing year. According to the ministry’s website, the corresponding addition to the memorandum of understanding for 2021/2022 was signed on October 19.
The ministry recalled that it is organizing the signing of such memorandums on its platform, starting in 2011, to ensure food security, in order to avoid the use of export restrictions, to ensure a predictable grain export regime and to stabilize the grain market in Ukraine.
“The practice of signing memorandums is successful in terms of compliance by the signatories with the conditions on the possibility of exporting grain volumes,” the department noted.
At the same time, this year the heads of the Ukrainian Millers union, the Ukrainian Bakers’ Association and Ukrkhlibprom withdrew their signatures to the memorandum, considering the export ceiling without dividing wheat into food and fodder as highly inflated.
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).
Ukraine has already harvested 29 million tonnes of wheat this season, which is 4 million tonnes more than last season, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday.
“In Ukraine, the harvesting of grain and leguminous crops continues. This year we can reach all-time high yields compared to previous years. More than 29 million tonnes of wheat have already been harvested. Corresponding figures show that, before finishing the season, we have already received 4 million tonnes more than last year as a whole,” the Prime Minister said.
At the same time, Shmyhal said that the State Agrarian Registry, which is currently being created, will help increase the competitiveness of the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex and more convenient interaction between all its structural divisions.
“This is a new level of relations between the state and agricultural producers, based on the principles of transparency, convenience and accessibility. Today we will approve the distribution of money for the Ministry of Agrarian Policy to ensure measures to create the Registry,” the prime minister said.
According to him, the implementation of the “single window” principle in the Registry will make it easier for farmers to receive services and state support. In addition, the Registry will provide an opportunity to facilitate access to bank financing.
“The agrarian Registry will accumulate the services most demanded among agricultural producers and, most importantly, will minimize the role of officials,” Shmyhal summed up.
Since the beginning of the harvesting campaign as of August 13, Ukrainian farmers have harvested 39.5 million tonnes (a rise of 7.3 million tonnes per week from August 6 to August 13) of grain, legumes and oilseeds from an area of 9 million hectares (56% of the forecast).
According to the information and analytical portal of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine, in the context of crops, the following crops were threshed: 28.7 million tonnes of wheat from an area of 6.2 million hectares (88% of the total area under this crop), 9.42 million tonnes of barley from 2.3 million hectares (92%), 2.6 million tonnes of rapeseed from 0.95 million hectares (94%), 0.54 million tonnes of peas from 0.23 million hectares (96%).
According to the portal, the yield of harvested wheat was 460 tonnes per ha, barley – 416 tonnes per ha, rapeseed – 275 tonnes per ha, and peas – 233 tonnes per ha.
The portal said that the leaders in harvesting since the beginning of the harvesting campaign were Kherson (the harvest was harvested from 91% of the area), Zaporizhia (90%), Donetsk and Mykolaiv (86% each), Luhansk (84%) regions. At the same time, wheat harvesting was completed by farmers of four regions, barley – by six regions. The collection of peas was completed in 18 regions of the country, rapeseed – in nine.
Agricultural producers of Khmelnytsky region were the leaders in average grain yield, harvesting respectively from 29% of the area with a yield of 614.5 tonnes per ha.
Ukrainian farmers since the beginning of the harvesting campaign as of July 23 had harvested 14.1 million tonnes (8.6 million tonnes more per week from July 19 to July 23) of grain and leguminous crops from an area of 3.4 million hectares (22% from the forecast).
According to the information and analytical portal of the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine, in the context of crops, the following were threshed: winter barley – 5 million tonnes from an area of 1.9 million hectares (48% of the total area under this crop), winter wheat – 8.86 million tonnes from 2.68 million hectares (30%), peas – 240,000 tonnes from 110,000 hectares (47%).
According to the portal, the yield of the harvested winter barley was 41.8 centners/ha, winter wheat – 42.8 centners/ha, peas – 22.1 centners/ha.
The portal clarified that the leaders in harvesting since the beginning of the harvesting campaign are Kherson (the harvest was threshed from 69% of the area), Mykolaiv (60%), Luhansk (44%), Donetsk (39%) and Odesa (29%) regions.
As reported, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food predicts the harvest of grain and leguminous crops in the 2021/2022 marketing year at the level of 75.8 million tonnes, exports may reach 56 million tonnes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its July report has improved the forecast for the production and export of Ukrainian wheat in the 2021/2022 marketing year (MY, July-June) by 500,000 tonnes compared to the forecast in June, to 30 million tonnes and 21 million tonnes, respectively.
In July, the USDA kept its forecast for corn exports from Ukraine in the 2021/2022 MY at 30.5 million tonnes, harvest – at 37.5 million tonnes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also predicts an increase in world grain trade in the 2021/2022 MY by 800,000 tonnes to a record 204 million tonnes due to increased exports from the EU, Ukraine and Australia, while Canada, Kazakhstan and the United States will reduce exports of this crop.
