USDA raises forecast for Ukraine's wheat exports to 15 mln tonnes this season

MOSCOW. Feb 9 (Interfax) - The U.S. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has raised the forecast for wheat exports from Ukraine by 1 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes and feed grain by 2.2 million tonnes to 25.37 million tonnes in the 2023-2024 agricultural year from September 2023 to August 2024, Ukrainian media reported, citing the USDA's February overview.

The USDA has also improved the estimate for corn exports by 2 million tonnes to 23 million tonnes.

The USDA said that the growth in exports would be possible owing to a decline in domestic consumption of wheat by 600,000 tonnes to 8 million tonnes and corn by 500,000 tonnes to 5 million tonnes, as well as resulting from reducing the estimate of transition balances for wheat by 400,000 tonnes to 3.98 million tonnes and corn by 1.5 million tonnes to 5.32 million tonnes.

The USDA has retained the harvest forecast for wheat at 23.4 million tonnes, feed grain at 37.62 million tonnes, and corn at 30.5 million tonnes.