Ukraine has scrapped its formal cap on wheat exports in the July 2019 to June 2020 season, with the agriculture ministry instead monitoring market conditions on a monthly basis to ensure domestic supply is adequate. The ministry signed on Thursday its annual memorandum with grains traders, setting terms for wheat exports for the current season.
The document, which includes a government commitment to keep current export rules unchanged, did not have the export figure which has been included in previous years. "This year, we have agreed not to fix a specific volume of grains," the ministry quoted deputy minister of economy, trade and agriculture Taras Vysotsky as saying.
"However, every last Monday of the month we will hold a joint meeting with market representatives and evaluate the indicators." Ukraine, which harvested about 27 million tonnes of wheat in 2018, increased grain exports by 49% to 13.59 million tonnes in the first three months of the 2019/20 season, agriculture ministry data showed. That included 8.63 million tonnes of wheat, 61% more than in the same period a season earlier.
Ukraine plans to harvest around 71 million tonnes of grain this year, almost the same as in 2018. In 2018/19 Ukraine exported a record 50 million tonnes of grains.