Forecast for Ukraine's new harvest of grain, oil-bearing crops raised from 60 mln to 65 mln-67 mln tonnes

MOSCOW. Aug 4 (Interfax) - Ukraine has upgraded its forecast for this season's harvest of grain and oil-bearing crops, raising it by around 5 million-7 million tonnes to 65 million-67 million tonnes from the earlier projections of 60 million tonnes, the Ukrainian media said, citing the government's website.

The forecast upgrade was first announced by Minister of Agrarian Policy and food Mykola Solskiy during Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal's conference call with the heads of the country's regions, according to the government's website.

Shmyhal, in turn, said that Ukraine has already gathered 12 million tonnes of grain of this year's harvest from 3.5 million hectares.

Additional opportunities for grain export have emerged following the unblocking of the Odesa Sea Port under the agreement signed in Istanbul on July 22 under EU auspices to resume agricultural exports from Ukraine, Shmyhal said.

"In June, we exported a total of 3.2 million tonnes that were required, out of [the pre-crisis monthly volume of] 5 million tonnes. Exports by rail, by road and via Danube ports are also gradually increasing. Seaports will significantly broaden these capabilities, and farmers will receive new opportunities to sell their products. The state is doing everything necessary for that," the government's website quoted the prime minister as saying.

As reported earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a July report that it expected Ukraine to harvest 19.5 million tonnes of wheat, export 10 million tonnes, and consume domestically 10.2 million tonnes in the 2022-2023 marketing year. It forecast Ukraine's corn harvest at 25 million tonnes, export at 9 million tonnes, and domestic consumption at 10.7 million tonnes.

The Ukrainian Grain Association at the beginning of July raised its forecast for Ukraine's harvest of grain and oil-bearing crops in 2022 by 4.4% to 69.4 million tonnes from its May forecast of 66.5 million tonnes.

The association expects Ukraine to harvest 20.8 million tonnes of wheat (8.3% more than in its May forecast), 27.3 million tonnes of corn (+4.6%), 6.6 million tonnes of barley (forecast unchanged), 9 million tonnes of sunflower seed (forecast unchanged), 2.2 tonnes of soybeans (+4.7%), and 1.5 million tonnes of rapeseed (+13.3%).