Ukraine wheat export pace overtakes 2020 with 8.9m mt shipped

Ukrainian wheat exports finally overtook last year’s export pace, as September marked a new monthly high, data from the agriculture ministry showed Friday.

Over the week, wheat exports reached 1.2 million mt and took the total for the marketing year to 8.9 million mt, already 4% higher compared to the same period of 2020.

In addition, around 2 million mt of wheat is still under loading or nominated in Ukrainian ports, according to available lineup data.

Barley exports increased 33% during the week to 348,000 mt, pushing the total exported amount to 3.8 million mt, 31% higher versus the same period last year.

Corn exports were also up during the period, but the volumes leaving remained very small - 36,000 mt - with the new total now standing at 1.4 million mt.

The is still double the volume exported by the same point of last year.

Corn harvest is progressing very slow across Ukraine with only 1.87 million mt, or 7% of the planted area now in the bins.

That came amid rainy weather and farmers’ preference for picking soybeans and sunflowers first, as the quality can suffer faster compared to corn.

Meanwhile, more corn vessels have started to appear in the line up, with currently at least three vessels nominated for loading some 153,000 mt, including a 60,000 mt cargo to China.