Ukraine could increase its grain exports to about 35 million tonnes by 2019 from about 20 million in the current season by boosting both the sowing area and yields, a large foreign grain trading house said on Wednesday. Ivan Miroshnichenko, Black Sea regional director for Noble Resources Ukraine, told an international agricultural business conference that the former Soviet republic could export 17-19 million tonnes of wheat and 17 million of corn.
"The share of Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan in the global wheat trading balance could reach 32-35 percent in the next 7-8 years. We are talking about exports of 17-19 million tonnes of wheat from Ukraine," Miroshnichenko said. ""The same applies to corn" Miroshnichenko said that Ukraine could become the world's second corn exporter in the 2011/12 season. Ukraine harvested a record 22.7 million tonnes of corn in 2011 and First Deputy Farm Minister Mykola Bezugly said on Wednesday its exports could reach 15 million tonnes in 2011/12.
Corn exports totalled 5.09 million tonnes in 2010/11. Bezugly also said that a rise in grain yields would allow farmers to increase grain harvest to about 80 million tonnes by 2020. Ukraine harvested a record 56.7 million tonnes of grain in 2011 and the yield stood at 3.7 tonne per hectare.