Farmak plans to boost exports to 40% of total sales in coming five years, PJSC Farmak CEO Volodymyr Kostiuk has said, speaking about the company’s entrance the Australian market at the Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Forum in Kyiv. According to him, in 2015, negotiations were held with representatives of an international company with the office in Australia. And in 2017, Farmak shipped the first batch to this country.
“It took us a little time to enter this market [Australia]. After all, our products meet the high requirements that are needed to deliver products to this region… Having a certificate from the Australian regulator facilitates access to other markets. Our goal is to increase exports in the sales structure up to 40% in the next five years,” Kostiuk said, adding that the company’s closest horizons are the EU countries (Germany, the U.K.), the United States, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the company’s press service, the share of sales to the regions of Australia and Oceania in Ukrainian exports of pharmaceutical products is only 0.3%. This is due to the fact that the Australian market is considered well regulated – at the level of the United States, the EU, so few Ukrainian companies can ship their products to Australia.
Farmak is a member of the Association Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in November improved the forecast for soybean exports from Ukraine for the 2018/2019 marketing year (MY, September-August) by 5%, or 150,000 tonnes compared to the September forecast, to 3.1 million tonnes. According to a report on the website of the American department, the USDA increased the forecast for oilseed exports from Ukraine by 100,000 tonnes, to 5.7 million tonnes, processing by 50,000 tonnes, to 15.55 million tonnes. The USDA forecast for meal exports was adjusted upward by 80,000 tonnes, to 5.15 million tonnes, oil by 20,000 tonnes, to 5.85 million tonnes.
According to the USDA forecasts, in the 2018/19 MY sunflower seed production in Ukraine will increase by 9.5% compared to the previous marketing year, to 15 million tonnes, meal by 6%, to 5.98 million tonnes, and oil also by 6%, to 6.2 million tonnes.
The export of sunflower seeds in the 2018/2019 MY could increase by 2.6 times, to 100,000 tonnes, meal by 8.5%, to 4.6 million tonnes, oil by 5%, to 5.6 million tonnes.
The USDA lowered the forecast for global production of oilseeds this month to 599.6 million tonnes (604 million tonnes in the September forecast).
Ukraine since the beginning of the 2018/2019 marketing year (MY, July-June) and as of October 31 had exported 13.285 million tonnes of grain, which is 0.6% less than on the same date of the previous MY.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, farmers produced about 7.54 million tonnes of wheat, 2.69 million tonnes of barley, and 2.8 million tonnes of corn.
In addition, 65,700 tonnes of flour had been exported on the specified date.
As reported, with reference to the ministry, Ukraine exported 39.4 million tonnes of grain in the 2017/2018 MY. Grain export in the 2018/2019 MY is projected to be 42.5 million tonnes.
Ukraine in January-September 2018 exported fruits and berries in the amount of $157 million, which is 40% more compared to the same period last year. According to the Ukrsadprom association, the main products in this group were walnuts, which were delivered for $69 million, frozen fruits and berries worth $61 million, apples and pears for $10 million.
“The growth in exports of walnuts (from 13,000 tonnes in the first nine months of 2017 to 20,000 tonnes in the same period of the current year), apples and pears (from 9,000 tonnes to 29,000 tonnes respectively) was the most notable in natural terms,” according to the website of the association.
The main sales market remained the European Union, supplies to which bring about two-thirds of all foreign exchange earnings. In January-September 2018 the largest purchases of fruits were made by Poland ($32.3 million), France ($11.7 million), Belarus ($10.9 million), Turkey ($10.6 million), the Netherlands ($8.8 million), Germany ($7.4 million), and Italy ($7.2 million).
“If not to take into account imports of exotic fruits to Ukraine (mainly citrus fruits and bananas), for the three quarters of 2018 the surplus of foreign trade in fruits and berries reached $75 million,” the association said.
Ukrainian apples are exported to more than 50 countries, while they are mainly purchased by Belarus (43%), Moldova (20%), and Sweden (10%).
Ukraine since the beginning of the 2018/2019 marketing year (MY, July-June) and as of October 17 had exported 11.132 million tonnes of grain, which is 3.4% less than on the same date of the previous MY. According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the country exported about 6.68 million tonnes of wheat, 2.3 million tonnes of barley, and 1.91 million tonnes of corn.
In addition, 57,600 tonnes of flour had been exported by that date. As reported, with reference to the ministry, Ukraine exported 39.4 million tonnes of grain in the 2017/2018 MY. Grain exports in the 2018/2019 MY are projected to be 42 million tonnes.
