The Ukraine remains a leading global food producer and exporter, but has not reported financial results in 2022. Its losses in the grain and oilseeds crop sector could exceed $3.2 billion in 2023 due to high logistics costs, fuel and fertiliser price hikes, and reduced sown areas.
The closure of deep-water ports in the Black Sea due to Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion has led to limited export opportunities and increased costs of imported fuel, seeds, fertilisers, and spare parts for agricultural machinery. The Agrarian Council estimates that wheat production costs in 2023 were $146 a metric ton, with an average selling price of $102. Farmers are determining the area they can sow for the 2024 crop based on their financial capacity.
Unfavourable weather conditions and prolonged absence of rain across most Ukrainian regions have also played a part in reducing sowing areas. Soil moisture is worst in Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Kharkiv regions, with up to 20 cm of upper layers dry. Agriculture ministry data shows that farmers sown 3.02 million hectares of winter wheat as of Oct. 16, 2023, compared to 2.5 million hectares a year ago.
CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE NEWS
Ukraine Counts Its Crop Losses
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