MW: Grain Warning
Unlike the devastating flood in Western Ukraine, the surplus of grain did not catch the government unaware. The rich grain harvest had been announced beforehand, with forecasts varying between forty and fifty million tons. The government reassured farmers, saying it would employ the State Reserve, the Agrarian Fund, state holding Khlib Ukrainy, and regional food funds to cope with the amount and prevent a price dive.
So far, however, the government has not intervened, leaving grain traders to their own. This marketing year, they have already exported 1,500,000 tons of grain. The price of feed wheat has dropped to a bargain-basement UAH 700 – UAH 650 per ton [$1 = UAH 4.845 ].
As the harvesting campaign was getting into full swing, Khlib Ukrainy President Ivan Rishnyak assured the public that his holding would play a role on the grain market. He had good reason to say so: Khlib Ukrainy has the capacity to store 6,230,000 tons of grain and process about 4,700,000 tons into flour, cereals, mixed feed, etc. It has grain elevators in geographically advantageous places – at commercial ports in Odessa and Mykolaiv, with capacities of 1,500,000 tons and 600,000 tons, respectively. [Read more →]
By Glen Willard