Page 65 - BNE_magazine_06_2019

bne June 2019 New Europe in Numbers I 65
Mirror, mirror: who is the biggest grain exporter of them all?
bne IntelliNews
The race is on between Ukraine and Russia for the title of “world’s biggest grain exporter” and the two rivals are running neck and neck.
Agriculture is one of Ukraine’s key sectors and has become its main source of foreign exchange revenues in recent years. Both countries share the “chernozem,” or black earth, which are some of most fertile fields in the world. And both countries have invested heavily in the sector.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Agriculture report- ed that with a few months of the current agricultural marketing year still to go, the country is on course to match last year’s bumper harvest of 70mn tonnes and has already exported 44.4mn tonnes of grain from total export forecasts for this year of 50.4mn tonnes.
That puts Ukraine ahead of Russia, which has been the biggest exporter of grain for the last three years in a row thanks to a record set of harvests. Agriculture has also become a key forex earner for Russia and the state has poured money into farming to boost productivity. The Russian Agricultural Ministry’s official forecast is for a harvest of 118mn tonnes and exports of between 42mn tonnes and 46mn tonnes.
There is a little confusion over the Russian grain forecast as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a slightly lower forecast of 115mn tonnes, but it doesn't include Russia’s newly acquired farmland in the Crimea.
It doesn't really matter who actually wins the race as both countries are earning some $20bn a year from grain exports at a time when both could do with the money.
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Ukraine grain production, exports mn tonnes
Ukraine grain production, exports mn tonnes
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