Ukraine to expand spring grain area in 2016

Ukraine is likely to boost sowing for the 2016 spring grain harvest after a severe drought prompted farmers to stop winter sowing, the UkrAgroConsult consultancy said on Tuesday. On Monday it cut its forecast for 2016 wheat output by 8 percent to 17.5 million tonnes. Winter wheat accounts for about 95 percent of Ukraine's overall wheat production.
"Winter crops acreage has decreased to its lowest level over the last 10 years. The situation is complicated by the fact that germination and conditions of crops are among the worst ever recorded," the consultancy said in a statement. It said that grain crops had emerged on less than 60 percent of the planted area and more than 30 percent of the emerged crops were weak and thin. Ukrainian traders have said they expect the harvest of between 14 and 18 million tonnes of wheat next year compared with more than 25 million tonnes in 2015. A smaller harvest is likely to cut Ukrainian wheat exports to a meagre 3.5 million tonnes in 2016/17, according to traders' forecasts.