Ukraine will export all grain stocks by the end of May – UGA

By the end of May, Ukraine will be able to export all the remaining grain from the 2023 harvest, which will lead to higher prices both on the domestic and global markets.

This was stated by Mykola Gorbachev, President of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA), at the Black Sea Grain conference in Kyiv on April 18.

“Our forecast is that the price will increase slightly. At the end of the season, we will see that the price will go up a bit, because Ukraine will be able to export almost all of its stocks by the end of May. We will have almost nothing in June. The global price will go up a bit. In Europe, yields will be lower. Prices will be a little better for our farmers,” Gorbachev said.

Gorbachev also expressed hope that the logistics component, in particular the work of the Greater Odesa ports, would be better. This will allow Ukrainian farmers in 2025 to focus not only on profitable crops, which are unprofitable for them this season, but to increase production in all sectors of the agro-industrial complex.

Among the difficulties that exporting companies will face in the 2024 season, the UGA President mentioned the projected alliance of France and Poland, which will prevent Ukrainian grain from entering the European market.

According to Gorbachev, these two countries will lobby for the introduction of legislative and sanitary restrictions that will hinder Ukrainian business.

At the same time, Gorbachev expressed confidence that this will encourage Ukrainian agricultural businesses to look for new markets.

“It is logical that we will find them. Whether it is Africa or additional volumes to Asia, we will still sell all the grain. Somewhere there will be competition again, somewhere we will have to give up something or complete something. We will be even stronger next year, because we need it,” summarized the President of the UGA and assured of the high adaptability of the Ukrainian agricultural business.

Earlier it was reported that, according to preliminary estimates of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, in 2024 the gross production of grains and oilseeds in Ukraine will amount to about 74 mln tons. In particular, Ukrainian farmers will harvest about 52.4 mln tons of grain and 21.7 mln tons of oilseeds.

This is 8 mln tons less than in 2023, when the harvest was about 82 mln tons, including more than 60 mln tons of grains and about 22 mln tons of oilseeds.

Tags: Ukraine, export, grain, UGA