Ukraine's harvest may reach 50 mln-60 mln tonnes, grain exports 35 mln-40 mln tonnes in 2024 - forecast

MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax) - Ukraine may harvest 50 million-60 million tonnes of major crops and export 35 million-40 million tonnes of grain in 2024, UkrAgroConsult information and analytical company founder Sergei Feofilov said.

"The structure of sown crops will be formed depending on the profitability of a particular crop. Current trends show that priority will be given to oilseeds, soybeans are seen as particularly promising, as is sugar beet, among other crops," Ukrainian media quoted Feofilov as saying in a statement circulated by UkrAgroConsult.

Security, logistics, profitability and international cooperation will remain key factors in agriculture in 2024, he said.

Ukrainian farmers' own resources were the main source of financing for the agricultural sector in 2023, Feofilov said.

Limited logistics options caused producers' profit margins to decline. The financial reserves accumulated in 2020 and 2021, which saw large harvests, helped Ukrainian agricultural enterprises survive in 2022 and 2023, as their profits plummeted during those years.

Yields for the majority of main crops were close to an all-time high thanks both to good weather and Ukrainian specialists, who managed to promptly adapt technologies to the challenges posed by the crisis, enabling Ukraine to harvest 22 million tonnes of wheat in 2023.

UkrAgroConsult's forecast last year projecting an enhanced role for the processing sector came true, Feofilov said. It was particularly noticeable in vegetable oil production. Never before had Ukraine processed so much rapeseed and soybeans, he said.