Maize accounted for the lion's share of grain exports to China in the first half of 2015 / Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine exported 2.74 million tonnes of grain to China in January-June 2015, which was 7.8 times up year-over-year, according to the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry's press service.
Maize accounted for the lion's share of the grain exports, totaling 2.7 million tonnes, while other crops amounted to a mere 40,000 tonnes.
In the first half of 2015, Ukraine also boosted sunflower oil exports, which grew by 6.8% to 330,000 tonnes.
Over the period under review, Ukraine launched exports of new types of vegetable oil to China: 32,400 tonnes of soybean oil and 14,100 tonnes of rapeseed oil were shipped to that country. Neither soybean oil nor rapeseed oil was exported to China last year.
Total shipments of farm produce to China in the first half of 2015 were estimated at $783.3 million, which was more than in all the 12 months of 2014, the ministry said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, farm produce exports from Ukraine to China grew by 58% in 2014 from 2013, to $767.3 million. Agricultural commodities accounted for 29% of overall trade between Ukraine and China last year.