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its latest report. Farm output will likely be down 12% y/y, dragged down by a 13% drop in grain and a 17% drop in oilseeds. However, he notes: “Export prices for wheat are now up 22% y/y, corn is 33% y/y more dear, while sunflower oil enjoys 45% y/y growth in price.”
As China accelerated it’s construction projects, Ukraine exported 34.7mn tons of iron ore by September, 14.2% more than in 2019. ​China’s share in export of Ukrainian iron ore was around 60%, followed by Poland (9.1%) and the Czech Republic (6.5%). For this period, iron ore exporters earned $2.9bn, according to the GMK analytical centre.
China, already Ukraine’s largest trading partner, could increase its two-way trade with Ukraine by 50%, to $20bn by 2025, ​Irina Nikorak, executive director of Silk Link, Ukraine’s Silk Road Association, told Xinhua news agency. She said a cooperation plan for joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative was signed December 22 at the fourth meeting of the China-Ukraine Inter-government Cooperation Committee, co-chaired via video link by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishina. Nikorak said Ukraine wants to become a logistics hub connecting Europe and Asia and Ukraine offers joint projects for food processing, industrial parks and IT development zones.
Tripling Vietnam-Ukraine trade to $1bn by 2023 and forging a bilateral free trade pact​ were two goals set at a meeting at the end of December in Kviv between Nguyen Hong Thach, Vietnam’s ambassador to Ukraine, and Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Trade. Both officials agreed to expand air links and to speed up establishment of a Vietnam House in Kyiv and of a Ukraine House in Hanoi, reports Vietnam News Agency. By contrast, China-Ukraine trade is believed to have hit $14bn this year.
5.2.2​ Current account dynamics
Ukraine’s current account (C/A) surplus swelled by $933mn in November
from $847mn in October, mostly due an increased surplus of primary account income, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) preliminarily reported on December 30. The November trade balance was almost evened out with an insignificant deficit of $80mn, compared with a $10mn surplus in October.
The goods trade deficit expanded to $579mn from $476mn in October.
The primary account income surplus swelled to $666mn from $513mn for the previous month amid a reduced deficit of income from investment.
The fall in goods imports slowed to 5.4% year on year (amounting to $4.9bn)​ in November after a 19.4% y/y plunge in October. In particular, imports of chemicals surged 23.8% y/y, accelerating from 3.4% y/y growth in October. In addition, the decline in machinery imports slowed to 3.4% y/y from 18.1% y/y in October. Imports of energy products dropped 33.6% y/y (vs. 49.9% y/y in October). In 11M20, goods imports dropped 16.4% y/y.
Goods exports picked up 8.9% y/y to $4.3bn in November ​after inching up 0.3% y/y in October. In particular, food exports jumped 11.3% y/y (vs. a 6.5% y/y decline in October). Exports of mineral products surged 64.6% y/y (from 61.4% y/y growth in October). The decline of ferrous metal exports slowed to
29​ UKRAINE Country Report​ January 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com