Ukraine by the end of the current agricultural year (July 2012- June 2013) could supply an additional 300,000-500,000 tonnes of wheat to foreign markets, thanks to the cancelation of limits on wheat exports, Ukrainian Agricultural Policy and Food Minister of Ukraine Mykola Prysiazhniuk has said.
“According to forecasts, we think that some 300,000-500,000 tonnes of wheat will be exported in May-June,” he told reporters in Kharkiv on Thursday.
The minister pointed at the effectiveness of cooperation of the government with grain traders over the past two years and said that now a new agreement for the next agricultural year is being drawn up.
“We’re drawing up a new agreement for the new agricultural year. On July 1, 2013 when the new agricultural year starts it will be prepared, improved and it will take into account all issues, which were not considered in previous agreements,” he said.
As reported, recently the ministry agreed on wheatexport from Ukraine until the end of the current agricultural year in unlimited quantities.
At the beginning of the current season grain traders and the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry determined the conditions of the state’s possible introducing restrictions on grain exports and the maximum possible amount of major crops exports. This figure for wheat had been revised several times, until recently it stood at 6.6 million tonnes.
It was assumed that after reaching the agreed export level, the state would enjoy the right to impose restrictions on the export of grain.
From July 1, 2012, to April 18, 2013, grain exports exceeded 20.2 million tonnes, which was 19.6% up year-over-year. In particular, Ukraine exported 11.5 million tonnes of maize, 6.3 million tonnes of wheat, and more than two million tonnes of barley.
