In 2024, Ukraine imported seeds of mainly grains and oilseeds mainly from the European Union, most of them were imported of hybrid corn, and the purchase of rapeseed was also increased, the press service of the National Research Center Institute of Agrarian Economics reports.
“Ukraine has purchased seeds of grains and oilseeds, sugar beets and vegetables abroad for $381.3 million. At the same time, the vast majority of supplies – 52.5% – were made last year by the EU member states. They sold more than $200 million worth of seeds to domestic farmers. The share of the United States of America is 19.0%, and the volume of imports from this country amounted to $72.6 million,” the report says.
In the structure of grain seeds imports to Ukraine in 2024, hybrid corn accounted for 95.8%, or 7.6 thsd tonnes. Ukraine purchased 0.7 thsd tonnes of seed wheat, 0.3 thsd tonnes of barley, 42 thsd tonnes of rye, and 32 thsd tonnes of sorghum. The main suppliers were France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and Italy.
The share of sunflower seeds in the imports of oilseeds is 81.5% (17.4 thsd tonnes), while 4.1 thsd tonnes of rapeseed and 0.7 thsd tonnes of soybeans were also purchased. The purchase of seeds of grains and oilseeds accounts for about 80% of domestic imports, where sunflower seeds account for 55% of its value, which last year amounted to $211.1 million.
In addition, Ukraine purchased more than three quarters of sunflower seeds from the US – 5.5 thsd tonnes for $72.5 mln (34.3%) and Turkey – 7.9 thsd tonnes for $85.7 mln (40.6%). Smaller volumes of sunflower seeds came from France – 1.9 thsd tonnes worth $24.8 mln (11.7%), Italy – 0.6 thsd tonnes worth $4.7 mln (2.2%) and Hungary – 0.4 thsd tonnes worth $5.0 mln (2.4%).
Only one tenth of the total amount of seed purchases – $41.4 mln – was spent on corn, the main suppliers of which were France – 2.7 thsd tonnes ($19.0 mln). tons for $19.8 million (47.8%), Romania – 1.7 thousand tons for $6.4 million (15.5%), Austria – 1.6 thousand tons for $7.5 million (18.1%), and Hungary – 1.1 thousand tons for $3.9 million (9.5%), as well as Germany (68 tons for $1 million) and Italy (131 tons for $0.4 million).
As for soybeans, the country imported the seeds worth $2.9 mln from Canada (270 tons – 38% of soybean imports), Austria (186 tons), Romania (119 tons) and France (89 tons).
The purchases of rapeseed in 2024 increased compared to the previous year to $45.2 mln. The main suppliers were Germany – 1.7 thsd tonnes for $17.6 mln (38.9%), France – 1.1 thsd tonnes for $12.4 mln (27.4%), Spain – 0.9 thsd tonnes for $11.7 mln (25.9%), and for the first time New Zealand, which supplied 209 thsd tonnes for $1.9 mln.
In addition, the volume of purchases of seeds of niche crops, including sorghum, flax, hemp and mustard, is increasing. The main suppliers are EU countries, including France, Germany and Denmark.
“The possibility of obtaining seeds from the world’s leading countries allows national breeding and seed production to compete freely abroad, which improves their further prospects for development and entry into the markets of Europe and America,” the Institute of Agrarian Economics summarized.
