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5.2.1 ​Import/export dynamics
Ukraine had the biggest jump in food exports to the EU of any country in the 12 months ending in January​, reports the European Commission. Ukraine’s exports increased 21% y/y, adding €1.2bn. During that one year period, Ukraine was the third largest supplier of food to the EU, selling €6.8bn, accounting for 6% of the EU’s food imports. The top two were: Brazil, supplying €10.7bn, or 9%; and the US supplying €10.1bn, or 8%.
Ukraine was second only to China as the EU’s top source of organic food imports ​in 2019, according to a European Commission agro report for 2019. Ukraine supplied 10% of the EU’s 3.2mn tons of organic imports, compared to China’s 13%. Selling wheat, oilseeds, soybeans, fresh fruit and juices, Ukraine increased its organic exports to the EU by 27%. Ukraine’s overall food exports to the EU increased last year by 21%.
Ukraine is now the world’s largest supplier of frozen blueberries to China,​ reports Produce Report. By increasing sales 5-fold this spring to $6mn, Ukraine edged out surpassing Canada, Sweden, Latvia, Belarus, Russia and Poland. By 2025, China is expected to surpass the US as the world’s largest producer and consumer of blueberries.
Ukrainian fruit and vegetable producers have almost completely re-oriented their exports away from Russia​, reports EastFruit, a news site focusing on the trade of fruit and vegetables ‘east of the European Union.’ In 2013, 29% of Ukraine’s exports went to Russia. Now, EastFruit, reports: “According to traders, the real share of the Russian market in the supply of vegetables and fruits from Ukraine is from 3 to 5% in value terms.” Instead, destinations are: EU – 67%; Middle East – 14%; and Belarus – 7%.
Sending cargo by rail from China to Ukraine is 2-3 times more expensive than by ship, but takes one third the time​, Valery Tkachev, deputy director of Ukrzaliznytsia’s commercial department, tells the centre for Transportation Strategies. Believing there is niche market for speed, Formag Forwarding, the Kyiv company that organizes the container trains, tells the Transportation news site: “Judging by the demand that has arisen now, trains can run not just weekly. There is enough cargo for a daily train.”
Powered by a nearly doubling of Ukraine’s exports to China, Ukraine’s trade in goods with China surged far ahead of Russia during the first four months ​of this year, reports the State Statistics Service. China-Ukraine trade rose to $4.2bn. China-Russia trade shrank to $2.4bn. Ukraine’s imports of goods from Russia dropped by 38% y/y.
Grain exports are up 16% y/y, the Agriculture Ministry reports. ​With one month to go in the July/June marketing year, Ukraine has exported a record 54.3mn tons. As China cuts imports of US grain, Ukraine is becoming an increasingly important player in the world grain trade. During the first 11 months of the marketing year, Ukraine exported: corn – 28.6mn tons; wheat -- 20.2mn tons; barley – 4.8mn tons; and wheat flour and other grains – 314,500 tons.
39​ UKRAINE Country Report​ July 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com