Source: Oleoscope (Russia)
The Ministry of Economic Development of Ukraine has lowered its forecast for grain and oilseed production by 1.5 million tons compared to last year’s results. The reason for this was abnormal droughts in the southern regions of the country.
According to Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture Taras Vysotsky, the gross harvest will amount to 76 million tons due to the drought.
The most difficult situation is in the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Kherson regions. Significant areas have also been affected in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. The disaster has led to a complete loss of crops on 386,000 hectares, and on another 1.2 million hectares, yields have fallen by 30-50%.
The expected harvest structure will be as follows:
- Cereals: 56 million tons, of which wheat accounts for 21.5 million tons; corn — 28.5 million tons; barley — 5 million tons.
- Oilseeds: 20 million tons, of which sunflower accounts for 12 million tons; soybeans — 5 million tons; rapeseed — 3 million tons.
The decline in harvest will directly affect the country’s export opportunities, the minister notes. According to the official, grain exports from Ukraine in the new season are expected to reach 40 million tons. Without the impact of drought, this potential could have been 43 million tons.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club association of analysts predicted an 11% drop in the gross harvest of oilseeds to 18.8 million tons, with grain volumes expected to decline by 3% to 54.6 million tons.