Ministry of Economy of Ukraine Issuing Grain Export Licenses

Interfax reported that The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine has started issuing grain export licenses, according to the quota set up last week among 163 companies. The quota runs until March 31 and is fixed at 1.2 mln mt, however Ukraininan Grain Association’s members insist on increasing it to 2.9 mln mt. According to preliminary data, in 2007 Ukraine collected 29.3 mln mt of grain. According to industry experts quoted in the article, Ukraine’s export potential is estimated at 4-5 mln mt annually. Anna Dudchenko: With WTO accession, we believe the government will cancel or soften grain export regulations this year, which will benefit producers of agricultural commodities as domestic prices will be allowed to catch up to those elsewhere in the world (in 2007 the difference in winter wheat prices was USD 50 on average, and up to USD 100 at the peak). However, this carries a downside for bakeries, which will be forced to buy inputs at higher prices.