Photo from UNIAN
China, Palestine and Singapore were key buyers of Ukrainian flour.
Ukrainian agribusinesses have halved wheat flour exports since July 1, 2018, the beginning of the 2018-2019 marketing year (MY, July 2018 – June 2019), to 122,300 tonnes, against the same period of the previous MY.
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"In the first six months of MY 2018-2019, Ukraine exported 122,300 tonnes of flour, which was 50% less than during the same period in MY 2017-2018 and 31% down from the five-year average indicator reported over this period," the UkrAgroConsult agency's press service said in a statement on February 1.
At the same time, flour output in Ukraine in 2018 remained at a sufficient level, totaling 1,600 tonnes by the end of the year, which was 14% down from 2017, according to experts.
The key region for Ukrainian flour exports over the period under review were the countries of Asia and the Middle East, whose share in the overall structure of Ukraine's flour exports was 60%. In particular, China, the largest importer of Ukrainian flour, accounted for 22.3% of Ukraine's total flour exports in MY 2018-2019. At the same time, shipments of the produce to China dropped by 62% over the said period against MY 2017-2018.
At the same time, Palestine ranked second in terms of Ukrainian flour purchases in MY 2018-2019, with a 16% share in the total export structure. Shipments of flour to that country in July-December 2018 grew by 16%, to 19,700 tonnes. In the first half of MY 2018-2019, exports of Ukrainian flour to Singapore increased significantly, to 17,100 tonnes against 6,800 tonnes over the same period in the previous MY.
Experts also noted a steep decline in flour shipments from Ukraine to the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel.
As UNIAN reported, flour exports from Ukraine in MY 2017-2018 totaled 412,600 tonnes.