The Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) has asked relevant ministries, in particular the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, to resume wheat exports and cancel licensing, as Ukraine has excess transitional stocks of last year’s harvest, while grain exports are significantly hampered by the blocking of Ukrainian sea ports.
“Cancellation of the export license will make it possible to slightly simplify the wheat export mechanism and free up storage capacity for the new crop,” ProAgro Group quoted the association.
UGA paid attention to the fact that Ukrainian farmers in 2021 gathered a record harvest of wheat – more than 33 million tons. And every year the Ukrainian domestic market consumes about 5-7 million tons of food and fodder wheat together.
Given the pandemic and the government’s desire to form a record carryover, grain growers confirmed their readiness to export only 25.3 million tons of wheat, which is enshrined in a Memorandum of Understanding between the government and specialized associations.
As of March 1, only 18.2 million tons of wheat were exported, therefore, about 12 million tons of wheat are still stored in elevators. At the same time, there are less than 3 months left before the new harvest, and domestic consumption by that time could reach about 1.5 million tons.
