Food security: Flour production boosted in Ukraine

The state-owned corporation plans to produce 15,000 tonnes of flour.

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The State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU) is launching flour production at four of its own enterprises to cover demand on the domestic market during the quarantine period.

"SFGCU is ready to work on ensuring the country's food security during the quarantine period amid the fight against COVID-19. As early as this week, the SFGCU will start flour production at four of its capacities in Zhytomyr, Lviv, Sumy, and Ternopil regions to cover current demand on the domestic market," the company press service reports.

In April, the Corporation plans to produce about 15,000 tonnes of finished products, the statement says.

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The press service said that the Corporation's assets include 10 flour mills in seven regions of Ukraine with a total production capacity of 1000 tonnes of finished products per day.

If necessary, SFGCU is ready to simultaneously launch production at all capacities available.

It is also reported that stocks of food wheat at SFGCU silos stand at over 100,000 tonnes, which is sufficient to ensure max load at all mills for three months, that is, before the start of grain supplies from a new crop, which has already been partially purchased as part of our forward program, that's according to SFGCU's commercial director Ivan Mashchenko.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 27 the SFGCU and PJSC Agrarian Fund announced their readiness to send 160,000 tonnes of wheat for processing and sale in order to stabilize flour prices amid quarantine in Ukraine.

The volume will allow producing 128,000 tonnes of flour for the domestic market.

Earlier, the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers and the Association of Milling Makers of Ukraine warned of a possible rise in price of bread and bakery products by 20% due to a rise in price of wheat amid the global coronavirus epidemic.

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According to the State Statistics Service, the volume of flour production in Ukraine in 2019 decreased by 3%, to 1.58 million tonnes.

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