UKRAINE (16 September)
Cereal harvesting in much of the country is nearly complete and the aggregate harvest has now been estimated at 19.96 million tonnes compared with more than 36 million tonnes last year. This aggregate includes 5.1 million tonnes of wheat, 7.45 million tonnes of barley and 5.4 million tonnes of maize. Severely cold temperatures, thin snow cover, frost and an unusually dry and late spring were the main causes of the significant drop in production. In addition, unusually heavy rains during the past couple of months have further compromised cereal production by delaying harvesting and damaging crops. Much of the cereal output – in wheat in particular – is not of food quality.
Ukraine needs to import some 3.35 million tonnes of cereals, mainly food-quality wheat, to meet consumption requirements during the 2003/04 marketing year. Aggregate cereal exports during the 2003/04 marketing year are forecast at about 2.7 million tonnes, compared with 10.52 million tonnes last year. This year’s cereal exports include some 1.93 million tonnes of barley and 742 000 tonnes of maize.