Ukraine planning to harvest up to 20 mln tonnes of wheat - PM

MOSCOW. Aug 2 (Interfax) - Ukraine is planning to harvest up to 20 million tonnes of wheat, fivefold more than needed for domestic consumption, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

"Around 12 million tonnes have already been harvested as of the end of July. We expect to harvest up to 20 million tonnes of wheat alone, which is fivefold more than domestic needs. Therefore it is crucial for us to help farmers safeguard and deliver the new harvest," Shmyhal was quoted as saying by Ukrainian media at a government meeting on Tuesday.

Resumption of agricultural product exports from the Port of Odesa is important in connection with this, he said.

"First of all, this provides the ability to increase foreign currency revenue and the income of businesses. Not only in the agricultural sector, where hundreds of thousands of people work, but in related industries, as well. The second aspect: Ukraine remains an important player on the global food market," Shmyhal said.

According to the Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry, 48-50 million tonnes of grains could be gathered in the country's new harvest on the whole.

According to the July forecast of the Ukrainian Grain Association, the wheat harvest is expected to total 20.8 million tonnes in 2022, up 8.3% from the previous forecast, while the forecast for corn was raised 4.6% to 27.3 million tonnes and the forecast for barley was left unchanged at 6.6 million tonnes. The overall forecast for Ukraine's grain and oilseed harvest in 2022 has been raised 4.4% compared to the previous forecast in May to 69.4 million tonnes from 66.5 million tonnes.

The Ukrainian Grain Association also forecasts wheat and corn exports for the 2022-2023 agricultural marketing year at 10 million tonnes each and barley exports at 2 million tonnes.

According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Service, Ukraine saw a record grain and pulse harvest in 2021 at 85.7 million tonnes, up 32% over 2020, harvesting 32.07 million tonnes of wheat, up 28.9%, 41.87 million tonnes of corn, up 38.2%, and 9.42 million tonnes of barley, up 23.3%.