Ukraine on pace for record grain harvest in decade

Ukrainian farmers have as of July 29 harvested nearly 27 million tons of grain representing a 21 percent year-on-year increase on 9 million hectares of land, Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital said in a note to investors. The figures imply an average yield of 2.95 tons per hectare, or a 22 percent rise over the same period last year.

Dragon Capital reported that the volume included ig.6 million tons of wheat, 6.2 million tons of barley and 2.1 million tons of rapeseed.

The Agriculture Ministry forecasts that 57-59 million tons of grain will be harvested this year, up 22-26 percent over last year, and the highest volume in a decade, Dragon Capital said.

"We are currently more conservative on the 2013 harvest outlook in view of the very dry weather currently being observed in central and southern Ukraine, expecting production of 55.1 million tons (+26% y-o-y). At the same time, we think grain exports in the 2013/14 marketing year could hit 28.6 million tons (+19% y-o-y), above the Agriculture Ministry’s forecast, including 17.7 million tons of corn (+20°/o y-o-y), 8.2 million tons of wheat (+20% y-o-y) and 2.7 million tons of barley (+15% y-o-y)," said Dragon.