Corn prices in Ukraine are rising amid delays in harvesting and speculative increases in exchange rates.

The intensity of precipitation in Ukraine has decreased, but the lack of heat continues to slow the drying of corn. Due to high humidity, corn is currently harvested on half the area compared to last year. This disrupts supply plans to the port under previously agreed contracts, forcing traders to raise purchase prices to accumulate the necessary batches for export. As of October 23, 31% of the area (+10% over the week) or 1.315 million hectares of corn has been harvested in Ukraine, yielding 7.713 million tons at a yield of 5.87 t/ha, whereas at this time last year, 67% of the area had been harvested, yielding 15.4 million tons at a yield of 5.72 t/ha. Export demand prices for corn in Ukraine have risen by 100-150 UAH/t to 9650-9700 UAH/t (202-205 $/t) with delivery to Black Sea ports over the week, also due to the appreciation of the dollar against the hryvnia by 0.9%. Farmers are selling corn cautiously as they are busy harvesting and also expect further price increases, so ...