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.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its June report has improved the forecast for the export of Ukrainian wheat in the 2021/2022 marketing year (MY, July-June) by 500,000 tonnes compared to the forecast in May, to 20.5 million tonnes.
In the report, the department also raised the forecast for the wheat harvest in Ukraine in the new marketing year by 500,000 tonnes, to 29 million tonnes due to a long period of favorable weather conditions.
In June, the USDA retained its forecast for corn exports from Ukraine in the 2021/2022 MY at 30.5 million tonnes, the harvest – at 37.5 million tonnes.
As reported, Ukraine has exported 42.61 million tonnes of grains and legumes since the beginning of the 2020/2021 MY and as of June 9, 2021, which is 22.4% less than on the same date of the previous MY. As of the indicated date, 16.04 million tonnes of wheat and 21.77 million tonnes of corn were exported.
The Cabinet of Ministers has supplemented the list of goods originating from the Russian Federation, prohibited for import into Ukraine, with wheat, sunflower oil, detergents, and paper.
According to the document, the list of prohibited goods was also replenished with surfactants, newsprint, cardboard, kraft paper and kraft cardboard, toilet paper, cosmetic napkins, hand towels, tablecloths and napkins.
The list also includes containers, boxes, bags, packing bags, ropes made of other alloy steels, drilling tools, other trolleys and undercarriage balancing trolleys, axles, wheels and their parts, according to the resolution.
The resolution comes into force ten days after its publication.
The trading corporation Posco International together with Nonghyup Feed, the largest importer of feed grain in Korea, supplied 68,000 tonnes of feed wheat from Ukraine to South Korea.
According to a report on Posco International’s website, out of 68,000 tonnes, 41,000 tonnes were sent through the Ukrainian grain terminal Posco.
“This food import is important because this is the first case of a stable supply of high quality feed grain to South Korea, secured by investments from a domestic company,” the company’s release stated.
Posco International expects that with the first delivery of feed wheat, the company will build a stable national grain procurement system using its own export terminal, expanding imports of wheat and maize.
The company indicated that in September 2019, Posco International completed the construction of an export grain terminal capable of shipping 2.5 million tonnes of grain per year at Mykolaiv Maritime Merchant Port.
It is noted that Posco International’s agricultural business is expanding with the delivery of major grains such as wheat, maize, soybeans and barley, but it all started with rice. The trade volume increased from 840,000 tonnes in 2015 to about 7.5 million tonnes in 2020.
The analytical agency UkrAgroConsult predicts a wheat harvest of 25.9 million tonnes for 2020 with exports of 17.5 million tonnes and a corn harvest of 36 million tonnes with exports of 29 million tonnes.
“The assessment of export potential for wheat is quite consolidated – 17.5 million tonnes, this figure is fixed in a memorandum, an appendix to which has been recently signed. In any case, exports will be about 3 million tonnes lower than last year,” the UkrAgroConsult export for the grain market, Yelyzaveta Malyshko, said during the Black Sea Grain & Oil Trade 2020 international conference in Kyiv.
According to her, the start of the wheat export season was impressive, for example, from July 1 to August 28, some 4.16 million tonnes of wheat were exported, which is the highest figure for this period in the previous years.
“Now active export contributes to the fact that domestic prices for wheat in September are about $ 30 higher than last year and the demand remains. Expectations in this regard are quite optimistic. Forwards for December are now showing $ 225, but we cannot exclude autumn price deflection after the arrival of Canadian and then Australian wheat crop,” the expert said.
UkrAgroConsult’s estimate of the corn harvest for this year is 36 million tonnes.
The expert noted price expectations for corn are optimistic, however, a decrease in prices during the period of active harvesting cannot be ruled out.
Ukraine exported more than 20.5 million tonnes of wheat and 30.3 million tonnes of corn in the 2019/2020 agricultural year (July-June), President of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) Mykola Horbachev has said. “The 2019-2020 grain season was successful. We produced a record number of grains and oilseeds. The grain and oilseeds harvest was a little over 98 million tonnes, which is an absolute record for Ukraine. A record amount of wheat was grown – more than 28 million tonnes. Wheat exports amounted to more than 20 million tonnes. Corn export exceeded all expectations. We exported more than 30 million tonnes. This year was successful,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.
The head of the UGA predicted that by 2026 Ukraine will produce 113 million tonnes of grain and oilseeds a year and export 70 million tonnes.
According to the UGA, export of grain and oilseeds in the 2020/21 season will be some 58.8 million tonnes.
