U.S. Department of Agriculture expecting 8.7% decline in wheat harvest, 12.9% decline in corn harvest in Ukraine in 2024
MOSCOW. May 13 (Interfax) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has presented the first outlook for this year's grain harvest in Ukraine in its report in May: it is expecting Ukraine to harvest 21 million tonnes of wheat and 32.97 million tonnes of feed grain, including 27 million tonnes of corn, this year, Ukrainian media reported.
Compared to the April report, the department upgraded the assessment of 2023 feed grain harvest from 36.62 million to 38.28 million tonnes, including from 29.5 million to 31 million tonnes of corn.
Therefore, the USDA is expecting Ukraine's wheat harvest to decline by 8.7% or 2 million tonnes this year, alongside a decline in feed grain harvest by 13.9% or 5.3 million tonnes including a decline in corn production by 12.9% or 4 million tonnes.
The department expects Ukrainian wheat exports to decrease by 20%, from 17.5 million tonnes in the marketing year 2023-2024 to 14 million tonnes in the marketing year 2024-2025.
The outlook for feed grain, presented in the USDA report this May, upgrades exports from 26.97 million tonnes to 28.45 million tonnes in the marketing year 2023/2024, including from 24.5 million tonnes to 26 million tonnes of corn.
Therefore, the USDA is expecting feed grain exports to decrease by 7.3% to 26.36 million tonnes in the marketing year 2024-2025, including a decline in corn exports by 7.7% to 24 million tonnes.
On the whole, the department is expecting wheat harvest to increase in the new marketing year to 798.19 million tonnes from 787.72 million tonnes in the marketing year 2023-2024, and practically unchanged exports, 216 million tonnes versus 215.65 million tonnes.
The USDA expects feed grain harvest to grow to 1,512.62 million tonnes from 1,052.13 million tonnes and exports to decline from 238.68 million tonnes in the marketing year 2023-2024 to 232.92 million tonnes in the marketing year 2024-2025.
In particular, corn harvest is expected to drop from 1,228.09 million tonnes to 1.219.93 million tonnes, while corn exports may decline from 197.36 million tonnes to 191.1 million tonnes.