Ukraine’s commodity exports in 2017 may grow 1st time since 2012 - NBU

Ore supplies will grow most (by 41%) in the exports structure due to the release of additional volumes as a result of the termination of shipments to steel-making enterprises located in the occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the NBU wrote in its inflation report for April.

The exports of foodstuffs will grow 8.6% due to the supply of sugar and other food products, thanks to new Asian markets opened in 2016, as well as an increase in grain exports.

In addition, exports of machine building products are expected to increase due to the gradual reorientation of products previously exported to Russia.

Read alsoUkraine’s grain exporters target Asia for future market growth - mediaAccording to the NBU estimates, growth in commodity imports in 2017 is expected to increase by 11%. That’s including the growth of energy imports of goods, expected to rise by 33.5% due to the increase in imports of coal and coke as a result of the termination of supplies from the militant-occupied areas of Donbas, as well as rising prices for oil products and gas. The main driver of non-energy imports will remain machine building products, primarily due to increased demand from farmers. In addition, the growth of imports of food products is expected as a result of the gradual recovery of consumer demand.

Read alsoUkraine sees 11% rise in average prices of farm produce in Q1 2017Also, the National Bank predicts a surplus of trade in services due to an increase in export of services by 5.7% thanks to IT and transport services, while the import of services will grow by 4.7%.

As UNIAN reported, the foreign trade balance in 2016 saw a $337.3 million surplus, which is 11 times lower than the surplus for 2015 at $3.828 billion, according to the State Statistics Service.

At the same time, according to the NBU data, the balance of foreign trade in goods and services in 2016 saw a deficit of $5.581 billion.