Most late crop yields down 12-24% yoy, sugar beet yield +5%

Ukrainian farmers harvested 90% of planned area as of October 19, Interfax reported, citing the Agriculture Ministry. The harvest so far is 39.2 mmt vs. an outlook for the total harvest of 46 mmt (-19% yoy). The ministry also provided an update on the yields of late crops: sunflower yields (with 96% of area already harvested) declined 12% yoy to 1.64 t/ha, and soybean yields fell 21% yoy to 1.62 t/ha – both keeping the decline rate stable over the last 10 days of the harvest. The yield for corn (with 68% of area harvested) lagged 24% yoy (4.28 t/ha) – slightly catching up to last year’s level vs. -26% ten days ago, while yields for sugar beet (collected from 64% of area) now exceed last year’s result by 4% to 36.4 t/ha.