Ukraine does not plan to restrict wheat exports 2023/24

Wheat

Ukraine

Published Mar 3, 2023

Tridge summary

Ukraine sees no need to limit wheat exports for the upcoming 2023/24 July-June season as the winter harvest appears to be larger than expected, albeit smaller than in peacetime, a senior official said. from the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday. Ukraine was the world's fifth-largest exporter of wheat before the war with Russia, and its shipments were especially important to poor countries in Africa and the Middle East. Based on results collected by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, as well as satellite images, farmers planted more wheat in the southern areas than the ministry had anticipated in the fall, First Deputy Finance Minister Taras Vysotskiy said. to Reuters. "The (supply) balance is positive and so far there is no reason to be," he said of government-imposed limits on wheat exports that would preserve more wheat for domestic consumption.

Original content

Some Ukrainian farming groups have suggested the government may impose limits on wheat exports, fearing a shortage of wheat for home milling after a smaller and poor-quality harvest. The ministry now estimates that farmers have planted 4.1 million hectares of winter wheat nationally, up from October's estimate of 3.7 to 3.8 million hectares, Vysotskiy said, adding that the ministry plans to formally release the new forecast. on Monday. The planted area is still much smaller than before the war, when farmers sowed 6.2 million hectares. The size of Ukraine's wheat crop largely depends on how much rain it will receive in the spring before farmers' harvest, Vysotskiy said. The harvest could range from 16 million to 18 million tons, he estimated. Last year, Ukraine produced 20.2 million tons of wheat. Ukrainian wheat exports have fallen to 11.3 million tonnes so far this season, down from 18.1 million sold abroad over the same period in 2021/22, ministry data show. External factors ...

Source: Agrolink