As of the end of February of the 2023/2024 marketing year, which started on July 1, Ukraine has already exported more than 29.1 million tons of grain, legumes and flour, Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, said on Telegram.
He clarified that in terms of major crops, 15.8 million tons of corn, 11.5 million tons of wheat, and 1.6 million tons of barley were supplied to foreign markets.
“Compared to the same date last year, there is a lag of almost 2.6 million tons (although, for example, wheat was shipped a quarter of a million tons more than last year),” the head of the parliamentary financial committee said.
Mr. Hetmantsev explained the slowdown in grain exports by the fact that for a month and a half, in July and the first half of August last year, when sea exports were forced to pause due to Russia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul grain initiative, Ukraine had to develop an “alternative grain corridor.” In August 2023, thanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it became available, and in the first months, foreign shipowners were restrained and cautious, looking closely at whether the new route was really safe, he recalled.
“In November 2023, some ‘friends and neighbors’ began to create obstacles for us on the land border under artificial and far-fetched pretexts, and these processes are still ongoing,” Hetmantsev wrote.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee expressed confidence that Ukraine would soon completely close the current gap.
He emphasized that in recent months, Ukraine has returned to almost pre-war export volumes, 90% of Ukrainian grain is shipped to foreign customers by sea, and dependence on the land corridor on the western border is decreasing.
“Thus, Ukraine will continue to play the role of one of the guarantors of global food security, while at the same time replenishing the treasury with serious foreign exchange earnings (in the near future, agricultural products will remain a key item of Ukrainian exports),” Hetmantsev summarized.
Astarta Agro-Industrial Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, exported more than 1 million tons of products to global markets in 2023, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, the main consumers of corn were China, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and wheat – Spain, Indonesia, Portugal, and Sri Lanka.
Astarta supplied sugar, soybean oil and meal mainly to European markets, and organic products to Germany, France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
In the first nine months of 2023, the agro-industrial holding decreased its net profit by 9.8% to EUR 55.97 million, while revenue increased by 14.8% to EUR 392.00 million.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares and dairy farms with 22,000 cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex. For this marketing year’s harvest, the company sowed 201 thousand hectares, which is 40% more than last year.
Since the beginning of the 2023-2024 marketing year, Ukraine has exported 28.579 million tons of grains and legumes, of which 4.703 million tons were shipped this month, Denys Bashlyk, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization, said on Telegram, citing data from the State Customs Service.
According to the report, since the beginning of the current season, which began in July 2023, 11.237 million tons of wheat, 1.596 million tons of barley, 15.439 million tons of corn, and 1 thousand tons of rye have been exported.
As of February 26, the total export of Ukrainian flour is estimated at 73 thousand tons, including 69.3 thousand tons of wheat, the Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy summarized.
As reported, Bashlyk informed that the harvest of grain and legumes in 2023 in Ukraine was carried out on an area of 10.609 million hectares, which is 97% of the plan, from which 58.993 million tons of grain were harvested.
Winter wheat plantings for the 2024 harvest in Ukraine amount to 4166 thou hectares (-834 thou hectares compared to the previous year), winter barley – 536 thou hectares (-255 thou hectares), and rapeseed – 1374 thou hectares (+110 thou hectares).
According to the newly improved forecast of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, by the end of 2023, farmers can harvest 81.3 mln tons of grains and oilseeds, including 59.7 mln tons of grains and 21.6 mln tons of oilseeds.
Ukrainian agrarians intend to increase the acreage under soybeans and sugar beets and reduce corn, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported following a survey of farmers’ preparations for the spring crops sowing campaign for the 2024 harvest.
According to the report, 70% of respondents indicated that they plan to increase the area under soybeans by 21% on average compared to 2023.
The survey of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, conducted through the State Agrarian Register, showed that during the spring sowing season, Ukrainian farmers will prioritize pulses, which will increase by 11%, and spring barley – by 7%. The area under spring rapeseed is expected to increase by 24%, sugar beet by 17%, and corn by 9%. The area under sunflower may potentially decrease.
In general, in 2024, the area under spring crops may decrease by 0.5 million hectares or 3.7% compared to last season, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
In January this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased exports of ferrous scrap by 2.1 times compared to the same period last year, up to 17,160 thousand tons from 8,280 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Friday, exports of scrap metal increased 2.15 times in monetary terms to $5.078 million from $2.362 million.
In January, Ukraine exported scrap metal to Poland (95.35%), Germany (4.61%) and the Netherlands (0.04%).
In the first month of the year, the country imported 129 tons of scrap metal from Slovakia for $45 thousand, while in January 2023 there were no imports of this raw material.
As reported, in 2023, the scrap collecting enterprise of Ukraine increased the export of scrap metal from the country by 3.4 times compared to the previous year – up to 182,485 thousand tons from 53,557 thousand tons. In monetary terms, exports increased 2.74 times to $52.723 million from $19.271 million.
Earlier, Ukrmetallurgprom President Oleksandr Kalenkov stated in an op-ed on the Interfax-Ukraine website that scrap metal is exported through the European Union, which has a preferential export duty of EUR3 per ton, and from there the raw materials are redirected to real customers. He noted that exporting raw materials directly to customers would cost EUR180 in export duties, and the Ukrainian budget has already lost UAH 350 million.
The head of Ukrmetallurgprom called for a temporary ban on the export of ferrous scrap to provide steelmakers with strategically important raw materials in the ongoing war. He also clarified that a ton of scrap metal processed into steel brings in 10 times more to the budget than the EU export duty, which is about $300 per ton.
In 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of ferrous scrap by 11.5 times compared to the previous year, to 53,557 thousand tons, and in monetary terms, it decreased by 12.4 times, to $19.271 million.
In January this year, Ukraine increased exports of semi-finished carbon steel products in physical terms by 5.8 times compared to the same period last year, up to 222.2 thousand tons from 38.341 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Friday, exports of carbon steel semi-finished products increased 5 times in monetary terms to $105.491 million from $20.897 million.
The main exports were to Bulgaria (37.07% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (11.91%) and Colombia (11.15%).
In January 2024, Ukraine did not import semi-finished products, as in January 2023.
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine reduced exports of carbon steel semi-finished products in physical terms by 36.7% compared to 2022, to 1 million 203.454 thousand tons, while exports in monetary terms decreased by 48.9% to $608.516 million. The main exports were made to Bulgaria (36.66% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (23.01%), and Italy (9.60%).
In addition, in 2023, Ukraine imported 96 tons of semi-finished products from China (98.26%) and Turkey (1.74%) worth $172 thousand.
In 2022, Ukraine decreased exports of carbon steel semi-finished products by 72% year-on-year to 1 million 899.729 thousand tons in physical terms and by 70.9% in monetary terms to $1 billion 191.279 million. The main exports were made to Bulgaria (26.55% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (13.97%) and Italy (12.13%).
In addition, Ukraine imported 5,558 thousand tons of similar products in 2022, which is 85.7% less than in 2021. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 86% to $3.634 million. Imports were carried out from the Russian Federation (96.92% of supplies before the war), China (1.84%), and Romania (1.21%).
In January this year, Ukraine increased exports of processed pig iron in physical terms by 5.3% year-on-year to 142,176 thousand tons from 135,073 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Friday, pig iron exports in monetary terms increased by 3.1% to $50.004 million from $48.513 million during the period under review.
At the same time, exports were carried out mainly to the United States (92.26% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (3.88%) and France (2.52%).
In the first month of the year, Ukraine did not import pig iron, as it did in January 2023.
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine reduced pig iron exports in physical terms by 5.8% compared to 2022 – to 1 million 248.512 thousand tons, while exports in monetary terms decreased by 26.2% to $471.467 million. Deliveries were made mainly to Poland (51.91% of supplies in monetary terms), Spain (21.41%) and the United States (13.15%).
In 2023, Ukraine imported 154 tons of pig iron worth $156 thousand from Germany (42.31%), Brazil (41.67%) and Poland (16.03%), compared to 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand in 2022.
In 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of processed pig iron by 59% in physical terms compared to the previous year to 1 million 325.275 thousand tons, and by 61.1% in monetary terms to $638.774 million.
In 2022, Ukraine imported 40 tons of pig iron worth $23 thousand, while in 2021 it imported 185 tons of pig iron worth $226 thousand. Exports were mainly to the United States (38.47% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (32.91%) and Turkey (8.12%), while imports were made from Germany (100%).
