Ukraine corn production declines while wheat and sunflower seed forecasts look weak

Historic rainfalls have muddied the harvest of Ukrainian corn fields, leading the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to predict 4.5 million metric tons fewer crop outputs, a five-year low of 27 million metric tons. However, exports through the Ukraine Grain Initiative sea corridors are going better than expected, which should offer some relief to cereal commodity prices. Meanwhile, the UN is even less optimistic, forecasting that Ukraine farmers will only be able to deliver 24 million metric tons of corn. The USDA expects that Ukraine will export 17.5 million metric tons of corn in 2022-2023, up 2 million in a single month and almost doubling its July prediction of nine million metric tons of corn exports. Exports will hold firm as silos are still close to capacity. The Ukrainian Grain Association has issued calls to the government to prioritize the electricity powering of silos, as the country suffers from constant blackouts due to the targeting of Ukrainian critical ...