Agriculture

Tuesday, June 8

Global food prices increased by 40% yoy, reported the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. After a 5% jump in May over April, the FAO Food Price index increased by 121.7 points, just short of a record high hit a decade ag...

Concorde Capital’s Evgeniya Akhtyrko wrote: “The recent growth of global food prices is mostly attributed to increasing demand driven by a massive throwing of public money for pandemic fighting around the world. The recent acceleration of consu...

China’s growing appetite for wheat and soybeans, a severe drought in Brazil, growing demand for vegetable oil for biodiesel, and supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic were cited last week by the Financial Times as reasons for rising food prices. “The drought in Brazi...

Two thirds of Ukraine’s farmland is at risk of drought due to climate change, Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Roman Leshchenko told the Ukraine 30 Ecology forum yesterday. “Climate change is taking place and in fact two thirds of our territory is becoming a zone of risky agricul...

Ukraine’s Soviet-era irrigation system has largely collapsed, according to an explanatory note accompanying a Rada bill to allow farmers to create water cooperatives. In 1990, the last year of the Soviet Union, “hydraulic reclamation” was carried out on 23 milli...

Of Ukraine’s 41.5 million hectares, 57% need some form of irrigation. The bill’s note says18.7 million hectares need constant irrigation and 4.8 million need periodic irrigation. Expected to pass this year, the bill would break the state monopoly on setting water rates,...

After last year’s drought caused up to $4 billion in crop losses to southern farmers, the Agriculture Ministry is launching a pilot project to restore irrigation systems in Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia regions. Minister Leshchenko writes on Facebook: “We will rebuild and exp...

In Odesa alone, the government is spending $92 million this year in a crash effort to restore irrigation . If the Rada passes the irrigation bill, Leshchenko tells the Kyiv Post he expects the EBRD and the World Bank to loan Ukraine $2 billion to rebuild its irrigation systems.

Wednesday, May 26

Through 2025, the price of farm land should double, thanks to the new land market that starts July 1, Prime Minister Shmygal, told the Ukraine 30 land forum yesterday. In addition, local governments should see rents more than double on their farm land, from 7% of estimated value to 18%, he predicted. ...

Almost 10% of Ukraine’s farm land is farmed off the books, costing the state as much as $1 billion in lost taxes annually, reports the Association of Agrarians of Ukraine. Lease payments on these tax-dodging schemes total as much as $2.5 billion, the group’s chairman, Alexander Vasilivsky, complained to Roman Leschchenko,...

Tuesday, May 25

During the 20-year ban on farm land sales, Ukraine’s state has lost the equivalent of “almost two Crimean peninsulas,” to land thefts by “businessmen and politicians,” President Zelenskiy said yesterday at Ukraine 30, a land forum. About 5 million hectares of state land moved illegally into private hands, he said. Crimea’s territory is 2.7 million hectares. During t...

On July 1, a limited farm land market is to open. Sales only are allowed among Ukrainians and the limit is 100 hectares. In advance of this modest opening, farm land rents increased 6.5% yoy in 2020 to an average of 3,380 hryvnia/hectare, Ellina Yurchenko, a farmland expert for the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club said ...

In the six-week runup to the market, the Rada should pass partial loan guarantees for small farmers and anti-corruption regulations , Kristina A. Kvien, US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, told the forum. Kvien and Matti Maasikas, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, both stressed the need for Ukraine’s media to inform the public about the n...

The EU is allocating €50 million in grants to help Ukrainian small farmers buy land over the next two years, Katarina Maternova, deputy director general of the European Commission’s Directorate for Neighborhood and Enlargement, told the government’s Ukraine 30 forum on Monday.

Thursday, May 20

China’s Ambassador to Ukraine Fan Xianrong said that Chinese companies should invest in farming and processing food in Ukraine, Xinhua reports from an online forum held Tuesday: “Ukraine-China: The Future of Trade, Pulses, Grains, Oilseeds.” Fan notes that Ukraine’s food exports to China jumped 84% yoy, accounting for 45% of U...

Ukrainian food exporters should take advantage of a projected 24% jump in Chinese food consumption by 2024 , Oleh Sytnyk, the President of the Ukrainian-Chinese Friendship Society, said yesterday at another China-Ukraine food conference. Due to urbanization and growing incomes, “more and more Chinese famil...

Wednesday, May 19

Auctions of state or communal farm land will now take place openly through electronic auctions conducted on the Internet, under a bill adopted yesterday by the Rada. “Anyone with a computer and Internet access will be able to take part in the auction,” (Interfax-Ukraine). “According to the ministry, the winners of the bi...

Thursday, May 13

Opposition to allowing foreigners to buy farm land remains strong in Ukraine, according to a new poll by the Rating Sociological Group. Of the 2,000 respondents, 79% oppose allowing foreigners to buy farmland and 77% say the issue should be decided by a national referendum. Of ...

Thursday, May 6

In 2020, Agroton increased its net profit by 2.3 when compared to 2019 to $11.76 million, and its EBITDA increased by 14.6 times to $33.04 million, the company has revealed. Its revenue increased to $67.55 million, while gross profit was up 3.2 times, to $ 32.91 million. The assets of “Agroton” last year increased by 5.1% – up t...

Wednesday, May 5

Over the past six months, eight new international export markets have been opened for Ukrainian enterprises. This included 63 commodity items were registered in eleven countries and several international economic organizations, Interfax-Ukraine reports citing the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.

Markets outside the existing EU region have opened up including Japan, Libya, Argentina and Lebanon for Ukrainian exporters of milk and other dairy products . Domestic producers were able to supply eggs to Ethiopia, animal protein to Serbia, and cattle to the UAE. The Lithuanian market is now open for the export of insects used in crop protection.

“In addition these new markets, Ukraine now exporting 63 commodity items to 11 states and international economic organizations. The first being exports to CIS countries which are now subject to new trade rules that come in force from April 13, 2021 in the field of veterinary medicine. This has replaced an agreement between CIS...

The most promising markets for exports from Ukraine are the European Union, China, Singapore, India, Vietnam, South Africa and Indonesia, said the State Consumer Service in a recent announcement of the continuation of work to expand existing markets across continents.

“An important priority for us is to work on opening new markets for the export of Ukrainian products. After all, these are new jobs and income to the state budget from taxes, “ said the Export Chief, Vladislava Magaletskaya.

Friday, April 30

This spring’s cool, wet weather will boost grain harvests by 14.5% and exports by 28%, the Ukrainian Grain Association predicted yesterday. In reality, this would return Ukraine to the bumper year of 2019/2020. Looking ahead, corn exports are to jump 27% in the coming marketing year, to...

Ukraine increased its exports to China during the first two months of this year by 44% yoy, Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s Trade Representative, said after meeting with China’s ambassador Fan Xiangong. Overall, Ukraine’s trade rose 18%, to $2.5 billion, with China, the nation’s largest trading part...

Tuesday, April 27

The snow and frost that hit central Ukraine during the night of Sunday to Monday will not harm harvests , said Tetyana Adamanko, the Head of Agrometeorology at the Hydrometeorological Center at a farm associations meeting yesterday. Due to the late spring, seedlings can easily withstand the air temperat...

Friday, April 23

The first of seven state-owned flour mills is to be privatized through auction on May 7 , the State Property Fund reports. Often called ‘bakeries’ these Soviet-era complexes mill wheat and corn into flour and animal feed. Located alongside railroad tracks, the seven ‘kombinats’ have elev...

Wednesday, April 21

Ukraine could double and even triple grain exports to China, said Mykola Gorbachev, the President of the Ukrainian Grain Association after signing a cooperation agreement with China’s Association of Small and Medium Enterprises. Noting that Ukraine already has ...

The US will displace Ukraine as China’s top source of corn this year as predicted on the China’s Global Times news website. In the first two months of this year, China’s corn imports increased by 414% yoy, to 4.8 million tons. The US pulled ahead of Ukraine, largely du...

Ukraine’s grain exports are down 35% yoy as of last Friday, according to data provided by the Economy Ministry. Drought depressed harvests, lead to the export drop. High food prices worldwide have ensured that Ukraine’s agricultural earnings have taken a small...

Ukraine’s grain exports could rebound by 19% in the upcoming marketing year, reaching 54 million tons, predicted APK-Inform, the agriculture consultancy. Ukraine could export: 29.50 million tons of corn; 20 million tons of wheat; and 4.3 million tons of barley. In the last decade, Ukraine more than qua...

April’s soaking rains and a good start to the spring sowing campaign lead Economy Ministry analysts to predict a bumper grain crop of 75 million tons in 2021. This would be 15% over last year’s output. State weather forecasters said last month around 98% of Ukrainian winter wheat crops and 100% of winter barley were in good condition.

Soybeans, a footnote to Ukraine’s grain story, are expected to see a 36% jump in production in the upcoming marketing year, 3.8 million tons. The USDA attributes this to a change in tax laws that make soybean production more profitable. Exports in the upcoming marketing year are expected to reach 2 million tons, up 20% over last year. This ...

Ukraine, the world’s largest sunflower oil exporter, is expected to increase sun oil exports by 17% in the upcoming marketing year, to 6.5 million tons. With cooking oil price hikes pushing up Ukraine’s March inflation, the Economy Ministry and the Ukroliyaprom Trade Association agreed Monday to limit sunflower oil exports to 5.38 million tons in the ...

Tuesday, April 20

The EBRD is lending the hryvnia equivalent of $65 million to Datagroup, a fast growing telecommunications company, to buy Volia , Ukraine’s leading pay-TV and cable broadband service, the bank announced yesterday in a press release. With a majority of shares owned by the fund, Horizon Capital, Datagroup calls itself a leading ...

The EBRD is also lending $57 million to the Kernel Group to improve the storage, transportation and export of agricultural commodities , the bank reported in a press release. The loan is part of a $200 million syndication arranged by French investment bank Natixis for Kernel, the world’s leading producer and exporter of sunflow...

Monday, April 19

UMG Investments plans to build a $150 million grain terminal at the Pivdennyi port, Ukraine’s busiest port on the Black Sea. The terminal will be capable of handling 9 million tons of grain a year, which equates to 20% of Ukraine’s current exports. The terminal is expected to be completed by 2024, said UMG CEO, Andrey Gorok...

Thursday, April 15

Ukraine’s exports of goods hit $8.5 billion, up 4.5% in January-February, compared to the same period in 2020. Imports only increased by 0.5% to $8.73 billion. As a result, the $256 million trade deficit was slightly less than half the level of last year, reports the State ...

Wednesday, April 14

Agroholding Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, increased its EBITDA by 45.6% to €113.4 million. The company increased its sugar EBITDA 9-fold, to €80.2 million, by selling one unprofitable sugar mill and by cutting sugar exports by 29%. Sugar prices were higher in Ukraine, where the company has ...

Concorde Capital’s Alexander Paraschiy wrote: “The company’s EBITDA and net leverage are the best in the last three years, making it one of the least risky farming and food companies in the Ukrainian universe.”

Monday, April 12

Driving up egg prices, Oleg Bakhmatyuk, owner of Avangard, the nation’s largest egg producer, has halved egg production over the last 18 months, to 170 million eggs a month. He has blamed the criminal prosecution by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, saying it has cut him off from bank loans...

Wednesday, April 7

Beyond “ensuring Qatar’s food security,” Ukraine is discussing using Qatar as a logistics hub to supply food to the region, said Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Presidential Chief of staff, (Ukrinform). Reviewing President Zelenskiy’s one day visit to Doha Monday, Zhovkva said: “During the talks, the leaders discussed the possibility...

Corn exports are down 25% yoy in the first half of the October-September 2020 marketing season, reported APK-Inform. Of the 15.9 million tons exported so far, the top markets were: China – 6 million tons; EU – 5 million tons; and Egypt – 1.7 million tons. This year, Ukraine is expected to export...

Monday, April 5

Food exports and investment in food processing, irrigation and port logistics will be the topics for discussion today with Qatar’s Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Prime Minister, Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, Agriculture Minister Roman Leshchenko told Ukrinform. In advance, talks have already taken place with Hass...

“In the food & agriculture segment, higher prices have been offset by lower volumes, resulting in a 3.3% yoy total decrease in exports,” writes Oleksiy Blinov, Alfa’s research head. “Sunflower volume exports are up only 1.5% yoy in March, but the export price has more than doubled.” Similarly, higher grain export prices have compensate...

Friday, April 2

With food accounting for most of Ukraine’s exports to China, Ukraine is negotiating to open China to 15 new farm products from Ukraine, Vladyslava Magaletskaya, Ukraine’s Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service, wrote on Facebook after meeting with China’s Ambassador Fan Xiangzhong. The list includes: honey, cherries, apple, peas,...