Ukraine will meet with wheat traders to discuss the pace of exports and has no intentions of following Russia's lead in curbing grain shipments, agriculture minister Oleksiy Pavlenko said.
The eastern European nation will assess stockpiles and may review traders’ shipment schedules, said Pavlenko, who is due to meet with industry representatives today. The ministry intends to hold such talks every four weeks.
The meeting will include a discussion on maximum limits for exports, researcher UkrAGroConsult said in a report yesterday, after Russia last month introduced taxes on wheat exports to rein in food prices.
"Maybe we will discuss a memorandum that will include traders’ plans for every month or for every quarter," Pavlenko said in an interview. "Maybe we will also write down volumes" of intended exports so that the parties have a common understanding and to help planning.
So far, there is nothing to suggest that traders will sell so much grain that the domestic market is left short, he said.
The country, the sixth-biggest wheat exporter, will seek a “clear forecast” for its rollover stockpiles.
He estimated that milling wheat inventories will be between two million metric tons to 3.5 million tons by end of the marketing year on 30 June.
Ukraine’s position is different from Russia's, the minister stressed.
"The situation is very simple," Pavlenko said, adding that market conditions are normal. "Nobody is going to introduce any restrictions for the time being," he said.
Ukraine may export about 37 million tons of grains in the marketing year that started on 1 July, Pavlenko said. Ukraine’s wheat stockpiles were at 6.3 million tons as of 1 January, he said, adding that the country will need 2.7 million tons of wheat through June for domestic consumption.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
