Ukraine should cancel all grain export restrictions including the current duties that have already cut agricultural exports, the local European Business Association (EBA) said on Thursday. The association, which unites 17 leading companies in the agricultural sector and represents the interests of both grain exporters and producers, said in a statement that a free trade regime would help Ukraine rehabilitate its export potential.
"As a result of export duties enforcement, product prices of Ukrainian grain on world agricultural markets increased, giving birth to the sharp decline of grain export volumes," EBA said. "In addition, the introduction of export duties from 1 July 2011 adversely affected farmers, who are actually working on the verge of loss as the domestic prices tend to fall constantly, and the state as the export volumes have decreased, thus shaking the trade balance and foreign exchange earnings."
In July, Ukraine replaced grain export quotas with export duties. Export duty on wheat is 9 percent but no less than 17 euros ($24.30) per tonne. Export duty on barley is 14 percent and no less than 23 euros per tonne. Export duty on maize is 12 percent and no less than 20 euros.
Ukraine, which forecast a bumper 2011 grain harvest of at least 51 million tonnes, plans to export 20-25 million tonnes of grain in 2011/12, against 12.7 million in 2010/11, but current exports are too low to meet the forecast. The country sold abroad about 1 million tonnes in July-August 2011, against 2.1 million in the same period in 2010.
Farm Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk said this week the ministry had asked the government and parliament to cancel the duties. But local media reported that the proposals had been refused by Ukraine's Finance Ministry and would not be lifted in the near future.
Comments
Comments are closed.