Page 39 - UKRRptFeb19

Through November, Ukraine’s top three food export markets were: India -- $1.7bn; China -- $1bn; and the Netherlands --$1bn.
Ukraine signed a new free trade agreement with Israel on January 21 and says that the volume of trade will grow 15% to $1bn in the next five years, Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Joel Lion told Ukrinform on January 22. Lion said that agriculture would remain the main area of sale for Ukraine since 63% of Ukrainian exports to Israel are agricultural products. "This is very important for us to have such imports from Ukraine," according to the ambassador. According to the estimates of the Ministry for Economic Development and Trade, in the near future, the agreement will help increase Ukraine's exports to Israel and improve the trade balance between Ukraine and Israel. According to the Export Strategy of Ukraine for 2017-2021, Israel is among top 20 most promising markets for Ukrainian export as it is also an entrepôt to the Middle East region. The most promising areas for cooperation are agriculture, tourism, hydrocarbon processing, communications, medicine, energy efficiency, and ecology.
Russia provided 60% of Ukraine’s coal imports in 2018. Overall, coal imports increased by 8%, to 21.4mn tons. Ukraine paid $3bn for imported coal, 11% more than in 2017. After Russia, the largest sources were the US – 30% ($907mn); and Canada – 5% ($163mn).
Ukraine, Europe’s largest producer of titanium ore, earned 20% more from exports last year . In the second year of growth, exports hits $126mn. Volumes increased by only 2.7%, to 600,000 tons, reports the State Fiscal Service. Top buyers were: Czech – 19%; Turkey -- 18%; and Russia – 16%. Commonly used as an alloy, titanium is used in cars, jet engines, spacecraft, medical prostheses, dental implants, sporting goods, jewellery and cell phones.
Ukraine, as of January 16, has exported 25.7mn tonnes of grain in the 2018-19 season , up from 22.1mn tonnes at the same point in the previous season, according to Reuters . Ukraine harvested a record 70.1mn tonnes of grain in 2018, up from 61.3mn in 2017. The Ukraine Agricultural Ministry told Reuters exports could rise to 47.2mn tonnes in the July 2018 to June 2019 season from 39.4mn the season before.
With corn accounting for half of Ukraine’s record harvest last year, corn sales to the EU have quadrupled and to Libya and Turkey have doubled, reports Ukragroconsult. Of Ukraine’s record 70.1mn harvest, records were also hit by sunflower seeds – up 12% -- and by soybeans – up 13%.
Lower world dairy prices pushed Ukraine’s milk export revenues down 6% last year , to $264mn, reports the Milk Producers Association. The top three buyers are: Morocco, Kazakhstan and Moldova. Milk trends will be debated March 5-6 in Kyiv at the 12th International Dairy Congress.
State salt producer Artyomsol increased salt production last year by 22.4%, to 2.1mn tons. Salt exports rose 25% to 952,000 tons, or almost half of production. Top buyers from Artyomsol are: Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Serbia. The company is based in Soledar, Donetsk region, where salt has been mined since 1881.
The monthly volume of Ukrainian apple exports for the first time exceeded 8,000 tonnes , having increased by 55% in November 2018 compared with November 2017. “For the first time, Ukraine exported more than 8,000 tonnes of apples a month, if not to take into account Ukrainian apples only. Although there still a significant volume of apple exports from Ukraine, about 51% are intended for re-export to Russia, as evidenced by deliveries to Belarus and Moldova; the export growth in other areas is
39 UKRAINE Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com