Ukraine Discusses Pace of Wheat Exports With Grain Traders
Ukraine is meeting with wheat traders to discuss the pace of exports and has no intentions of following Russias lead in curbing grain shipments, Agriculture Minister Oleksiy Pavlenko said.
The eastern European nation wants to assess stockpiles and may review traders shipment schedules, said Pavlenko, who met with industry representatives today. The ministry intends to hold such talks every four weeks. The meeting was to include a discussion on maximum limits for exports, researcher UkrAGroConsult said in a report yesterday, after Russia last month introduced taxes on wheat exports to rein in food prices.
Maybe we will discuss a memorandum that will include traders plans for every month or for every quarter, Pavlenko said in an interview in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, yesterday. Maybe we will also write down volumes of intended exports so that the parties have a common understanding and to help planning.
So far, there is nothing to suggest that traders will sell so much grain that the domestic market is left short, he said. The country, the sixth-biggest wheat exporter, will seek a clear forecast for its rollover stockpiles. He estimated that milling wheat inventories will be between 2 million metric tons to 3.5 million tons by end of the marketing year on June 30.
Ukraines position is different from Russias, the minister stressed.
The situation is very simple, Pavlenko said, adding that market conditions are normal. Nobody is going to introduce any restrictions for the time being, he said.
The ministry and traders will meet again tomorrow to discuss grain stockpiles and exports, Serhiy Stoyanov, the director for Ukraines Agrarian Confederation, said by phone after todays meeting.
Ukraine may export about 37 million tons of grains in the marketing year that started July 1, Pavlenko said. Ukraines wheat stockpiles were at 6.3 million tons as of Jan. 1, he said, adding that the country will need 2.7 million tons of wheat through June for domestic consumption.
Ukraine plans to increase grain shipments to China to 5.5 million to 5.7 million tons this year and seek as much as $25 billion of investment in its agricultural industry, focusing on port logistics and irrigation systems, from the Asian nation.
The country wants to boost its grains harvest to 100 million tons a year within three years and needs to increase capacity of ports, railways and elevators, Pavlenko said.
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Ukraine Discusses Pace of Wheat Exports With Grain Traders