Ukraine Grain Exports Up Fourfold

Ukrainian grain exports in the current marketing year which began on July 1st 2008 are up fourfold on the previous season at 16.4 million tonnes, according to customs data.

Whilst Egypt has restricted its purchases from Ukraine due to quality issues, South Korea has emerged as a large buyer of Ukrainian wheat, taking advantage of lower world freight costs.

South Korea has imported 744,000mt of feed wheat from Ukraine so far in July08/Feb09, and has more material bought for the remainder of the marketing year, say IA APK-Inform.

South Korea, Asia’s second-biggest grain importer, was previously a buyer of US corn for use in the country's feed sector but has now switched almost totally to cheaper Ukraine wheat.

Ukraine wheat has also made significant inroads into the Spanish market, traditionally the UK's largest export home, exporting 2.2mmt so far this marketing year (to end Feb).