REUTERS
Ukrainian traders boosted wheat exports to Mexico in the last marketing year (MY) July 2015 through June 2016) by 2.5 times to 288,000 tonnes, amid declining supplies of this crop from key exporters – the United States and Canada, according to the UkrAgroConsult consulting agency's press service.
The U.S. reduced wheat shipments to Mexico by 12%, to 2.7 million tonnes, while Canadian supplies fell by 20%, to 780,000 tonnes, UkrAgroConsult said.
Last season Ukrainian traders were able to increase wheat supplies to Mexico and the EU to 503,000 tonnes, as compared to 25,000 tonnes a year earlier.
In the current 2016-2017 MY, Mexico will reduce wheat imports by 600,000 tonnes to 4,200 tonnes as compared to procurement volumes in the 2015-2016 MY, the highest over the past five seasons, according to the report. The decrease in wheat import is attributed to higher yields of this crop in Mexico this year.
"Given a competitive export price and a decrease in wheat output in the EU, Ukraine will continue exporting this crop to such distant markets as Mexico, despite the reduction in its import needs in the new season," the agency said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food forecasts that Ukrainian farmers will export 39.8 million tonnes of grain in the 2016-2017 MY, slightly exceeding last year's record level of 39.4 million tonnes. The ministry projects the grain harvest in Ukraine at 62.3 million tonnes.