Ukraine: Giant Clearance Sale Now On

02/06/11 -- With early barley cutting expected to be only a fortnight away, Ukraine still has a large carryover grain surplus to shift from the 2010 harvest. With only one month of the 2010/11 marketing year remaining the FSU country has exported little more than half of what it shipped in 2009/10 due to export bans and a complicated quota system.

Now that the floodgates are open they expect to increase grain exports this month to around 1.5 MMT (from 1.1 MMT in May). That however would only bring total 2010/11 exports to around 12 MMT leaving the country with carryover old crop grain stocks of a hefty 8 MMT at the end of the July/June marketing year.

With the deputy Ag Minister recently saying that grain production this season could be "significantly higher" than 45 MMT, exports in 2011/12 have the potential to break through 20 MMT. Strange then that they should chose today reduce their export target from 19020 MMT to 15-18 MMT. Trying to keep prices from falling out of bed wouldn't be the reason surely?