Page 38 - UKRRptFeb19

amounted to $8.82bn, which is $1.1bn more than in 2017. Ukraine and China have recently agreed at the highest level that the trade turnover between Ukraine and China will reach $10bn a year. We are pleased to note that our work in this direction demonstrates obvious progress,” Kubiv said as cited by Ukrinform. The trade turnover between Ukraine and China amounted to $7.69bn in 2017 and increased by 17.9% compared to 2016. Ukraine has been slow to build relations with China, but the pace of cooperation start to pick up in 2018. Russia remains the main partner for China in the region where mutual trade turnover topped $100bn for the first time in 2018.
Food exports increased by 5% in dollar terms last year, hitting a record $18.8bn , reports the Institute of Agrarian Economics. Farm products accounted for 40% of Ukraine’s total exports. Export of agricultural goods dominated Ukrainian foreign trade in 2018, accounting for almost 40% of total sales, national research institute IAE said in January.The largest share of food exports went to Asia – 43%. The EU took 33.5%. CIS countries took 10%. The top 10 importers of Ukrainian food were: India – $1.8bn; China -- $1.1bn; the Netherlands -- $1.1bn; Spain -- $1bn; Egypt -- $890mn; Turkey -- $801mn; Italy -- $738mn; Germany $667mn; Poland -- $657mn; and Saudi Arabia -- $589mn.
Metal exports grew 15% y/y to $10bn in 2018 , reports the State Fiscal Service,The share of ferrous metals in export income inched up, to 21%, from 20%.
The current account deficit for the first 11 months of 2018 was $4.4bn,
compared to $1.7bn for the same period in 2017. Concorde Capital believes Ukraine ended 2018 with a current account deficit around $5bn.
Ukraine entered the top five countries that exported agricultural products to the EU between November 2017 and October 2018.
The European Commission published the relevant data in the report “Monitoring EU Agri-Food Trade: Development until October 2018.“
"Agri-food imports from third countries in the 12-months period between November 2017 and October 2018 accounted for €115.2bn... The most important origins for EU agri-food imports over the past 12 months (EURbn) remain Brazil (12.0) and the USA (11.5), followed by China, Argentina, Ukraine, Switzerland, Turkey and Indonesia, each accounting for between €4.4 and 5.5bn,” the report says.
At the same time, the volume of Ukrainian imports to the EU between November 2017 and October 2018 decreased slightly compared to the same period of 2016-2017, from €5.390bn to €5.123bn, with an absolute decline in agricultural supplies to the EU in the amount of €226mn (-4.9%).
At the same time, Ukraine ranked first in terms of growth in agricultural imports from the EU countries.
"Major gains in annual values (EURmn) have been achieved in agri-food exports to Ukraine (+272; +16%), Japan (+269; +4%), Singapore (+227; +10%) and Algeria (+142; +6%). The USA remains by far the largest market for EU agri-food exports, although a slight decrease was recorded over the past 12 months (-116; -0.5%)," the report notes.
Russia’s latest ban on food imports from Ukraine will have “minimal impact on Ukraine ” because imports have already dropped by 95% from 2012 levels, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food tells Interfax-Ukraine. From $2.1bn in 2012 to about $110mn last year, Russia’s share of Ukraine’s overall food exports has fallen from 11.5% in 2012 to about half of one% last year.
38 UKRAINE Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com