Ukraine's agriculture ministry and traders' unions failed on Thursday to sign a memorandum to determine the amount of grain available for export in the 2015/16 season, adding uncertainty to the market, traders said. The draft memorandum, which was intended to allow exports of around 36 million tonnes this season, including 16.5 million tonnes of wheat, was due to be signed on Thursday.
Ukraine and grain traders sign a memorandum each year under which the government promises to impose no restrictions on the agreed volume of grain and keep export rules unchanged. "The ministry has failed to obtain the approval (of export volumes) from the prime minister (Arseny Yatseniuk)" a Ukrainian trader said.
It is unclear when the document could be signed, traders said. The ministry was not available for immediate comment. Another trader said worries about winter grain sowing, which has been hit by severe drought in most Ukrainian regions, could be the reason for the delay. "This could send some negative signals to the market," the trader said. Weather forecasters said last week that the acreage of Ukrainian land sown with winter grain for the 2016 harvest could fall by up to 30 percent due to excessively dry weather across most of the country.
Ukraine plans to harvest 59.5 million tonnes of grain this year and expects that the exports could reach 36 million tonnes in the 2015/16 season which runs from July to June. Ukraine has exported 10.6 million tonnes of grain as of October 9, including 6.1 million tonnes of wheat, 2.9 million tonnes of barley and 1.5 million tonnes of maize.
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