KYIV- Ukraine’s grain exports so far in March have totaled 3.2 million metric tons, down from 3.5 million in the same period of last year, agriculture ministry data showed on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s grain exports in the 2023/24 July-June marketing season have fallen to around 32.9 million tons from 35.1 million a year earlier, the data showed.
Exports so far this month have included 13 million tons of wheat, 17.6 million tons of corn and 1.89 million tons of barley.
Ukraine has traditionally exported around 95 percent of its grain via its deep-water Black Sea ports.
Spike Brokers brokerage, which tracks and publishes export statistics, this month said that Ukrainian agricultural maritime exports in March could fall by 20 percent from February.
In February, Ukraine exported 5.8 million tons of various grains, 11.5 percent more than a year earlier. The ministry gave no explanation for the increase.
The Ukrainian government expects a harvest of 81.3 million tons of grain and oilseeds in 2023, with a 2023/24 exportable surplus of about 50 million tons.
Meanwhile, the European Union reached a provisional agreement on Wednesday to grant Ukrainian food producers tariff-free access to its markets until June 2025, albeit with new limits on imports of grains.
The European Commission proposed in January to suspend duties and quotas on Ukrainian farm produce for a further year, with an “emergency brake” for poultry, eggs and sugar leading to tariffs if imports exceed the average levels of 2022 and 2023.
