China triples purchases of Ukrainian corn in Oct-Dec of MY 2020/21

Ukraine in October-December of the new marketing year (MY 2020/21) shipped about 8.8 million tonnes of corn to the external market, which was 8% down from 9.5 million tonnes reported in MY 2019/20, whereas China tripled purchases.

In particular, China was the key importer of the Ukrainian cereal grain over the period under review, having boosted purchases by 2.8 times against October-December of MY 2019/20, up to 3.6 million tonnes, APK-Inform agency's press service said on January 22.

Read alsoUkraine exports over 27 mln tonnes of grain, legumes as of Jan 15The European Union member states ranked second, having cut purchases of corn grown in Ukraine by 39%, to 2.7 million tonnes. Egypt joined the top three leaders with 900,400 tonnes of corn imported from Ukraine, which was 19% down from October-December of MY 2019/20.

In total, imports accounted for 82% of all shipped consignments. Noteworthy, China's share is 40%, while that of EU is 31%, the report said.

Experts estimate Ukraine's corn export potential at 22 million tonnes in the current marketing year, which is 23% down against 28.7 million tonnes posted in MY 2019/20.

Background

Ukraine's Deputy Minister for Development of Economy, Trade, and Agriculture and Trade Envoy Taras Kachka said the situation with products that are the country's major export staples (grain, oilseeds, ore, and metal) is quite encouraging, which provides grounds to positively assess prospects for 2021.

Ukrainian agrarians exported 27.2 million tonnes of grain and leguminous crops as of January 15, 2021, according to the State Customs Service.