Page 36 - UKRRptSept19

report by Metal Expert. The industry consultancy estimated that in June, Russian exports of coking and PCI coal to Ukraine amounted to only 30 kt due to restrictions introduced by Russia in April. Ukraine’s normal consumption of Russian metallurgical (coking and PCI) coal is 600-800 kt per month, according to Metal Expert.
Ukraine’s food trade with the EU increased by 23% during the first half of this year, compared to the first half of last year. Although EU quotas on exports of nine food products from Ukraine were filled by mid-July, Ukraine is expected to have another record year for food exports to the EU, predicts Nikolai Pugachev, deputy director of the Institute of Agricultural Economics.
Ukraine’s exports of meat and poultry were up 20%, to $364mn, in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has replaced Russia as the largest importer, taking 21%, according to the Institute of Agricultural Economics. Big buyers are: the Netherlands - 15%; Slovakia - 9%; Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Iraq - 5% each.
Grain exports were up 40% for the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year. Ukraine exported 26.2mn tons of grain, slightly more than half the 50mn tons exported during the entire marketing year, which ended June 30. Corn was king in the first half, accounting for 79% of exports, reports the Institute of Agricultural Economics.
Ukraine grain exports jump 37% y/y in 2018/19 season. Ukraine exported 50.4mmt of grain in the 2018/19 marketing year ending in June, or 37.0% more y/y, according to an Agrarian Ministry report on July 15. This is a record-high number for the country. Ukraine exported 15.6mmt of wheat (a 9.1% decline y/y) and 29.8mmt of corn (a 68.1% jump y/y) in the marketing year.
Ukrainian exporters had fulfilled 2019 duty-free quotas for exporting nine food products to the EU: apple juice, butter, corn, cereals, flour, grape juice, honey, starch, and wheat. This time last year, Ukraine had used up seven of its quotas. During the first five months of this year, Ukraine’s food exports to the EU rose 37% y/y, hitting €3.1bn. With Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson promising Brexit by October, a working group is studying a UK- Ukraine free trade pact. Ukraine is Europe’s largest food exporter. Britain is Europe’s largest food importer.
Fruit exports were up 16% by value during the first half of this year y/y,
pacing last year’s 17% growth, reports Ukraine’s Agrarian Economic Institute. Apples and pears were up 75% to 42,000 tons. Walnuts were up 74% to 33,000 tons. Frozen fruits were up 28% to 18,000 tons. Of the $116mn in sales, the biggest buyers were: Turkey -- $18mn; France -- $11mn; Poland -- $10mn; Belarus -- $9mn; Iraq -- $7mn; Italy and Greece -- $5mn; and Germany $4mn. The EU buys about half of Ukraine’s fruit and berry exports.
Exports of Ukrainian meat products in January-June 2019 (H1) grew by 20% year-over-year (y/y), to US$364mn. "In the first half of 2019, exports of meat products rose by almost 20% from January-June 2018, up to $364mn," the press service of the National Scientific centre "Institute of Agrarian Economy" said on August 12, referring to its deputy director Mykola Pugachov.
36 UKRAINE Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com